


Et Flori

by DeathandDespairQueen



Category: RWBY, Unwind Dystology - Neal Shusterman
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Anxiety, Everyone is alive but only for now, God didn't want this, Major Character Injury, Multi, POV Multiple, Poly SSSN - Freeform, Science Fiction, Unwind AU, gratuitous bastardization of science, kind of a high school au but not really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2018-09-22 23:50:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 67,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9630374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeathandDespairQueen/pseuds/DeathandDespairQueen
Summary: Yang was a good kid who had messed up. Big time. One little fight and now she was on her way to the nearest Harvest Camp.Blake was not an AWOL. She had no idea how she had gotten mixed up in this.Weiss had never cared for Unwindees. They weren’t really human anymore, after all.Ruby wants her sister back.





	1. Yang

**Author's Note:**

> Me: *has a bunch of unfinished works just lying around*  
> Also me: Time to start a new story
> 
> by the way for those who don't know, Unwind is a series based around the idea of a Dystopian society where abortion is illegal, but when your child turns 13 you can send them to be "unwound" where they are put into a divided state and their parts are used for stuff like organ transplants. It's a pretty good read, you should check it out.

“We need to talk” was one of Yang’s least favorite phrases. Although the amount of dread in her stomach was often determined by who wanted to speak with her. If it was her father, it was usually about a household chore that she had neglected to do yet again. Uncle Qrow was pretty light hearted most of the time. But he had, on occasion, dropped major bombs that left her reeling and counting her wounded. Talking to teachers or anyone else in a position of authority was the worst. Authority meant business and business sometimes meant trouble.

Today was just one of those days.

Yang had been called down to the office and was now sitting outside, twisting her thick blonde hair around her gloved fingers while she waited for them to invite her in. In her head she was going over every little thing she had done this week. Maybe it wasn’t trouble, maybe it was an award or something. Maybe she had accidentally parked her bike in the wrong parking stall and they just wanted to make sure it didn’t happen again. Or she had witnessed like a drug deal and they wanted to know more about it. Though she couldn’t recall whether or not she had seen a drug deal within the past few weeks. She had honestly been a little spacey since-

Oh. _Shit_.

Yang slapped her hand to her forehead and groaned loudly enough that the secretary glared at her over her thick rimmed glasses.

Yang had forgotten about the fight. It was just a stupid schoolyard tussle, honestly. Plus, the other two had started it. Yang won, naturally. She was tough, and while it was her first fight at school, she had been wrestling with neighbor kids since she was around 9. Even back then she had been a champion. Her father had told her so while he patched up her scraped knees and cleaned up bloody noises after she had won the brawl of the week. He told her that her mother would be proud, really.

"Miss Xiao Long." The principal's stern voice pulled her out of her thoughts and back into the present. "Come inside, please." Yang stood and reluctantly made her way into the office. She was met by her father's worried blue eyes. He gently patted her shoulder as she sat in the seat next to him. The principal shut the door and shuffled back to his chair behind his massively cluttered desk. The sound of his clearing his throat seemed to fill the entirety of the cramped office. "Miss Xiao Long, I'm sure you are curious as to why we have called you in here this morning."

"Yeah, why's my Dad here? Old man convention in town?" Taiyang gave her a light warning shove. This was not the time for jokes. Her heart sank. So she  ** _was_** in trouble. 

"Your father and I agreed that his presence here would be the best for.... the situation." He cleared his throat loudly once again. Yang flinched. She hated that noise, it just sounded so wet and sticky and the grossness of it all was beginning to distract her from the point. So she tried to focus on his face. The mustache above his lip and how it seemed to dance when he spoke. "....seeing as your little scuffle the other day ended so poorly." Wait, what? She had zoned out again. She turned to her Dad for some sort of indication as to what was said. He just shrugged.

"Well....I mean it didn't end poorly. I won!" Clearly that wasn't the response they were looking for. An angry look crossed his features. 

"You broke Milita Malachite's wrist. Her sister and her mother are both very cross. You're lucky they aren't pressing charges since we decided with this option. 

"What option?" The two men shot her a look. She really had missed something important when she zoned out. Tai sighed. "Yang, kiddo. We have all talked this over and over again. We have all decided that this is best for you."

"Stop avoiding the point! What did you decide?" Her gaze flicked back and forth between the principal and her father. The looked at each other, and then back at her. Her father lets out a heavy sigh, like he's about to tell her the worst news she had ever heard in her life. Like the words themselves had such a large weight that it physically hurt to form them. Maybe he wasn't her real dad. She was a stork. She had to switch schools. They were forcing her to join Juvey-Cop training camp and she would be forced to become one of those no-fun tranq wielding sons of bitches that round up runaway kids who's parents didn't like them enough to let them work out their issues. 

But it was so much worse than that. 

"Yang, we've decided to have you Unwound."

Taiyang had predicted his daughter's actions before she had carried them out and was already on his feet and grabbing her as she shot out of her chair. No! This wasn't fair! She was a good kid and she had been good her whole life!  Well, she had been fairly well behaved. "It was one fight and they started it!"

"Mrs. Malachite would not compromise with us! She insisted that you were a danger to the other students here and threatened to sue the school district if we did not agree to her terms!" 

Yang kicked wildly, managing to knock a framed picture off the desk and onto the ground. Taiyang backed away with her still in his arms. The principal was also on his feet, one hand on the phone.  _To call the Juvey-Cops._ They were probably already outside waiting for her. They were going to take her away and no one would ever even know. She wasn't going to let that happen to her. She let out a great howl and struggled in her father's arms. All she had to do was get loose and then she could run but her father never loosened his grip. 

Yang barely registered the apology her father muttered to the principal before hauling her, kicking and shrieking, into the hall where he finally set her down. "What the hell is your problem?!"

"You're sending me to my death over what?! A broken bone? You're letting them sell my soul to avoid losing a little money! What kind of father would do that?!" Tai grabbed her shoulder. "The kind of father that loves you. You are going to seriously hurt someone at this rate, okay? And then what do we do?" He looked her dead in the eyes. "This is for your own good. Believe me." She pushed him away from her. She was feeling everything at once. And at the same time she had no idea how to feel. How were you supposed to react to this? Tears threatened to form in her eyes but she held them back as best she could.

"So what? The Juvies are outside waiting for me? Are they just gonna take me away whenever they feel like it?" 

"Because you didn't have to go to trial for assaulting those girls-" Yang began to protest but he cut her off- "I get to take you to the camp myself this Saturday morning." That was it. She was going to be directly delivered to death's door without even a chance of escaping before hand. It was only Thursday, but her father was always one step ahead of her. He had probably already parking booted her bike and hidden all the car keys. There was always the possibility of going on foot. But if he knew that she was even thinking about planning on leaving before Saturday he would have squads of Juvey-Cops on her before she could make it three blocks. Being taken there by her parent seemed to save what little humanity she had left before the government stole it from her under the knife. 

Taiyang offered to take her home. Yang refused. "I'm not dead yet, old man." She spent the remainder of her school day like normal. Laughed with her friends, goofed off in class. In hindsight, her poor academic prowess might have also contributed to their choice. Though she still didn't think it was fair. She was only 17. She had her entire life ahead of her. Sure, once divided her parts would be used to save the lives of thousands. Her lungs could go to a little boy with breathing problems, or her heart could help a mother of 3 survive just a while longer. Her blood, her brain, her muscle. Every part of it could be used to save a life. But they were still her parts. If she hadn't gotten carried away in that fight, they would still all be hers forever.

She walked home with her sister after school. Ruby was 14, supposed to be a freshman but skipped a few grades. She wasn't really that popular, she never really tried to branch herself out and would often cling to her older sister. She was a popular topic of discussion, however. She had natural silver eyes, not pigment injections like Yang had (she had the kind that changed from violet to red when her heart rate spiked), and she was crazy about weapons of all kinds. There was also the rumor that Ruby was a stork due to the fact that they looked nothing alike. There was the even worse rumor that Yang was her mom, but no one with a brain actually believed that one. 

Yang didn't bring up her Unwinding to her, and assumed that Taiyang would do the same. If she had any control of it, her little sister wouldn't know about her fate until it was already done. She didn't think her sister could handle knowing that she was gone forever seeing as she could barely handle it when Yang went out to clubs with her friends and not her. She just didn't know how her sister would react, so it was best to keep it secret for now. 

Ruby stared at her phone for a majority of the walk, reading an article that had just recently been posted. "A group of clappers hit another school today. They think they might have been targeting the tithes." Yang patted her shoulder reassuringly. Ruby herself had almost been a tithe: Someone who was born for the sole purpose of being unwound at age 13. It was a primarily religious practice, viewed as giving back some of your riches to whatever God you believed in. This apparently translated into giving up a child like ritual sacrifice, like Abraham and Isaac. 

When Ruby was born, Taiyang was awestruck. He was now with his second wife and they were convinced that the two of them would never have a child together. Summer hadn't cared, she loved Yang like a daughter already. But then Ruby was born and it was so miraculous that it took weeks for them to come to a decision. They couldn't bear to lose their miracle baby. Ironically, a few years after Summer was involved in a fatal accident and, due to lack of available parts, had passed away. Taiyang slipped into an unresponsive depressive state. It was a crazy thought, but maybe he had agreed with the principal's verdict to have her unwound. So no one else would have to live with watching the person they loved the most slip away because there wasn't enough of whatever they needed to stay alive. 

Maybe he didn't even love her anymore. Yang wasn't a miracle. If anything she was a mistake. Neither her father nor her uncle had told her much about her mother, Qrow's twin sister. Raven had left shortly after Yang was born. Raven and Tai weren't together when she was born, and her own mother had storked her on her father's doorstep as soon as she could. If the ban on abortion had never been instated, Yang most likely wouldn't even be here. Her own mother would have had her done away with before her life began. 

"I just don't understand how some people could do this kind of thing. Hurt other people because of what they believe...." 

"The world kind of sucks, Rubes. Bad things happen to good people whether we think it should or not." The young dark haired girl hummed sadly. "You have got to stop reading those things, kid. They just make you sad. And you know I hate it when you're sad." She reached over and ruffled her sister's hair, who laughed loudly and swatted at her hand happily. "Yaaang! I'm not a baby anymore, stop messing with me!" 

"You're always gonna be baby to me, though! My widdle baby sister~!" Ruby shrieked and broke into a sprint. That kid was fast, fast enough to join the track team or something like that if it weren't for their father's overprotectiveness. Yang idly jogged down the street after her. 

* * *

 She was laying on a cold metal table naked. Doctors and their assistants swarmed around her. There was sharp pain from every angle. Ripping, pulling, tearing off her flesh and snipping away her organs. Draining her blood, gouging her eyes. And yet she remained alive. Even as they plucked the heart and lungs from her chest she continued to live if only to experience the excruciating pain of it all. She couldn't scream or move or cry out for anyone to help her. Then again, it was too late for her.

Suddenly the pain was over. She was no longer lying on a cold table but in bed in a bright, sterile room. Then there was a flash and she was in another room, similar to the last. And then another and another and another. Each flash of the rooms brought on a new spark of pain in a new part of her body. In.... these bodies. She had a feeling that even though she could see and feel through them, they were not her own. 

And then all over again she was ripped apart and scattered, her very being torn between cities and states, spreading what was left of her so thin that it was hard to keep herself from fading entirely. And even though she could barely keep from flickering out like a candle in the wind, she could prominently hear something below her. All the way back in that little Austin suburb something grounded her. A small voice, worried silver eyes. "Yaaaang? Yaaang, where are you? I'm scared! I can't find you!" 

"RUBY!" 

Yang shot straight up, the force of her sudden awakening jolting her headboard against the wall with a loud BANG. She was sticky with drying sweat and her eyes burned as if she had been crying. A nightmare. A really bad one, but a nightmare nonetheless. If anything it solidified her original idea.

She could not, by any means, let herself be unwound. Not if it meant leaving Ruby all alone.

Friday came and went. She didn't tell anyone about her unwinding, fearing they would treat her differently. But of course, that didn't stop anyone else from blabbing. Junior and the Malachite twins spread the word faster than thought humanly possibly. Yang's worst fears were confirmed by lunch. She was picking at her state rationed "nutritious" meal when she felt something smack against her head. One of her friends let out a small giggle that died in her throat as she plucked the object, a small crumpled paper ball, from her tray and unfolded it. 

"Rest in pieces." Yang snatched the paper out of her hands and was met with a crude drawing of herself with X's for eyes and her parts scattered across the page. "Yang, your injections are starting to activate." A friend warned. Oh yeah, she was getting heated. She wanted to stand up and stalk across the cafeteria and put whoever threw the note into a coma. What would it matter if she did, her life was already signed away. What would stop her from getting up and starting another fight, a grand finale before she disappeared forever? 

Yang banged a clenched fist against the table and took deep breaths. For Ruby. She would stay calm and cool for Ruby. 

Uncle Qrow came over for dinner. Her Dad said he had made her favorite, so it was something incredibly spicy and lots of it. Yang set the table and got everyone's drinks. Beer for Tai and Qrow and a big glass of whole milk for Ruby. That kid could do a lot of things but eat copious amounts of spicy food was not one of them. It felt more like a normal dinner than a last meal.

But was it really even that? Would they unwind her the second she arrived at the harvest camp or would she have time? She knew that tithes got the chance to choose their day but she wasn't a tithe. She was a delinquent on her death's row. A prisoner in her own skin. Her crime was existing and she hated every second of it. 

Somehow, the dinner conversation turned to Qrow's work. He was a Juvey-Cop, but he mostly worked in different stations or with the parents, hardly ever did pick up and drop off. He still had all the accessories that came with the job. "Though, I seemed to have misplaced my tranq gun. I'm sure it's still in the glove box, but I can't be bothered to look for it. Not like I ever use it. But by law I have to keep it loaded." 

"How do you lose a loaded gun? Drinking on the job again?" Tai teased. They had initially trained together but Taiyang had branched off into becoming a teacher at the academy instead of an active officer. That was probably why he was allowed to transport Yang himself. "Please, don't act all high and mighty. You know how wild we were when we were young. Remember that night we all stole the keys and-"

"Qrow! Not in front of the kids!" 

"Whoa, Dad, are you blushing? What kind of shenanigans did you get into and why won't you tell us about them?" Yang elbowed her father playfully. Ruby tried to hide a giggle. "Please tell us! I wanna know I wanna know!" She turned her silver puppy dog eyes on her father and before they knew it he was cracking. "Alright.... So it was your Uncle's idea...."

* * *

 

Qrow came into her bedroom before he left. He sat at the foot of her bed and for a while they simply stared at each other. Finally he spoke up. "Your Dad wants to take my car tomorrow. Thinks you'll have less trouble getting through traffic if you're in a JC car heading towards a camp."

"Great. 'Cause that's what I really want, to get there faster." He pinched her foot. "Let me finish, brat. This is the last time I'm gonna see you for a while."

"It's the last time you're gonna see me ever." Qrow shrugged. "We'll see. Y'know.... your Mom. Your Mom wasn't the best person. If she wasn't already 19 when the war ended and the Unwinding Act was put into place, she probably would have been the first under that knife. But she wasn't and now who even knows what kind of trouble she's causing." He sighed. If this was supposed to make her feel better, it was failing and it was failing hard. "What I mean to say is.... you're not your mom. The two of you are alike in so many ways but you will never be her. And that's a good thing.

She looked out the window sadly. "But I'm still being unwound. I've been good my whole life, but I'm still being punished. It's....not fair." Qrow placed a hand on her head and gently stroked her hair. He didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. Nothing in the world would make her feel better about this. They sat in prolonged silence before he finally caved in to the pressure and left. He didn't say goodbye. 

Ruby came into her room about a half hour later. There was a tiny smear of chocolate on her right cheek. "Dad made cookies. They aren't as good as yours." Yang licked her thumb and swiped at the stain. "But still edible, huh?" Ruby stuck her tongue out at her and climbed up beside her. She rested her head against her sister's shoulder and sighed. She was content. "Hey, don't fall asleep on me. It's only 9." 

Ruby responded with a yawn. "Sorry, Yang. We did races in gym today and I really wore myself out. Can I sleep in here with you?"

"Seriously? You haven't slept in my bed in years, you said you were to 'grown up'. Why the sudden change of heart?" Ruby shifted, but stayed silent. Oh no. She hadn't figured it out, had she? Yang made a silent vow to personally hunt down and destroy whoever dropped the ball on this one, even in her divided state.

"I have a really early morning tomorrow, kid. I don't wanna wake you up." No answer. Yang poked her sister's side. No answer. Then there was a soft snore. "You tricky little- Fine. But when I'm ready for bed I'm gonna kick you out." 

She never did. 

* * *

The next morning came sooner than she hoped. Luckily Ruby was a deep sleeper and was easily transferred from one bed to the other. Yang slowly descended the stairs, with nothing but the clothes on her back. She wouldn't need anything where she was going, it wasn't like a fun road trip. Tai sat at the table staring into his coffee. He gave a wary smile when she entered the kitchen. "There's my sunny little dragon. You ready?" 

No. She would never be ready for this. But she pressed her lips together and shrugged. "As I'll ever be." Tai nodded stiffly. He wasn't ready either. But there was no way out of this. Either he took her like he said or the Juveys would be on their doorstep making a ruckus within a weeks time. They couldn't have that. So they slowly made their way to Qrow's car and settled in, Tai in the driver's seat and Yang in the passenger's. The car started with a low hum and Yang felt her heart rate jump. This was really happening. She was really leaving her home for the final time. She was really on her way to be unwound. 

"Oh, shoot. My phone." Her dad muttered. "I'll just be a minute." He slid out of the car and jogged back towards the house. Yang watched him in the rear view mirror. She supposed she could run but she knew that he could run faster. Plus it would only take a minute to locate his phone. She hadn't brought hers along. Although, in hindsight even a book would have been fine to bring. The nearest camp was about two hours away and she didn't want to speak with her father the whole time. Yang sighed. "Maybe Qrow has something in here..." She mumbled to herself as she fingered the handle to the glove box.

It popped open quietly, a few crumpled paper balls spilling out with the door. "What a slob." Yang ignored the clutter and began rooting around for anything that could possibly serve as entertainment for the drive. There was old pens without caps, more paper than she could have ever imagined, rubber bands, erasers. Mostly useless office supply. Then her fingers bumped against something solid. She wrapped her hand around it and carefully extracted it. "Whoa. No way." 

In her hands was her uncle's tranq gun. She had seen it before in pictures, but had never held it before. It was heavier than she thought it would be, and it looked just like a real gun. Qrow had mentioned misplacing the weapon, even said it could still be in the car. Yet she didn't expect it. "By law, he has to keep it loaded." It took a bit of fumbling and inspecting but she managed to find the clip. She popped it out. Fully loaded. Four small darts, each filled with enough special serum to knock out even the biggest ROTC kids or the meanest thugs. The replaced the clip and fiddled with the trigger. It seemed so easy to pull. Suddenly she heard the front door slam shut. In a moment of panic she slammed the glove box shut and shoved the gun into the compartment in the side of the door. Her father was back inside within seconds.

"Found it. Zwei must've thought it was his toy and took it again." He waved the phone, now with a few small chew marks on the case, triumphantly. "Let's get this show on the road, huh?" Yang nodded. Her heart was racing for a whole new reason. 

They were on the highway soon. Due to the time of day, there was little traffic from either direction. It looked like a clear shot from here on out. They rode in silence. Not completely, they would sing along to the songs on the radio or engage in the world's most awkward small talk occasionally. Nearly an hour into the trip they caught up with the traffic. A few buses, probably chartering some sports teams or something to their next event, semi trucks. A few other cars filled with people in various states of happiness and alertness. Yang wished she could doze off like so many other teens had done on the road. But her nerves felt like they were made of fire and her mind was racing. 

The road was lined with cornfields that broke off into sections of trees that also eventually turned to thick woods. It was now or never. She reached into the compartment and felt for the gun. Still there. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, trying to keep herself from panicking. She had to do this. Now or never. She wrapped her hand around the gun. Armed and ready.

_One._

_Two._

_Three._

Yang whipped out the gun and pressed it against her father's side. "PULL OVER! PULL OVER RIGHT NOW!" 

Taiyang had been trained for many situations at the academy. Hypothetically, he should know exactly how to handle this and subdue the perp. But years of teaching and being a full time father had made him soft. In that moment with a gun against his side and the wielder none other than his own daughter, he panicked. Taiyang faltered, moving to bat away her hand but forgetting to release the steering wheel, which jerked violently with his motion. At the speed they were going, the car swerved off the highway. It flipped twice, landing upside down in the ditch. It should have killed them instantly. But whatever deity was up there had other plans. 

Yang hurried to undo her seatbelt, and with a forceful kick knocked the door free. Taiyang, while dazed managed to do the same. There was blood running from a large wound on his head and it obscured his vision. "Yang? Yang, are you okay?!" He wiped at the blood but it was only replaced with more. He could hear people shouting and he could feel the telltale ache of a broken bone in his ribcage. 

Yang stood a fair distance away from her father and the growing crowd. Behind her there was nothing but woods. She had to do this. For her life. For Ruby. "I'm sorry." She raised the gun and fired, lodging two darts in her father's legs. He was down almost instantly and the crowd around them screamed. She knew what this probably looked like. They were in a cop car, after all. She could see the headline now: ROGUE UNWIND TOTALS CAR AND TRANQS OFFICER. 

Before anyone could advance on her, she bolted. People could only watch as she disappeared into the foliage. No one dared give chase. She was armed and obviously dangerous, and this poor man needed their help. Word of her escape would spread and she would be caught soon enough. For now, the girl wasn't their concern. 

Yang ran for what felt like miles until the noise of the highway completely disappeared. Only then did she slow her pace, not quite allowing a full stop. She would stop when she was safe. She would be 18 in 9 months. If she could avoid capture until then she would be fine. They she could go back for everything and everyone she'd left behind. She could apologize to her dad, if he survived. 

Now, Yang was a criminal. A delinquent. A prisoner in her own skin. Her crime was daring to exist in a world that rejected her. And for the next 9 months she would do her best to fight the system that had failed her. She tucked her gun into her pant's pocket and started jogging once more. 9 months was a long time to stay alive. For now, she would prioritize making it to the nearest town or safehouse. She could figure out the rest when she got there.  

 


	2. Blake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blake Belladonna was not an unwind.  
> Like anyone would believe that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yo what the fuck tho right?

This was a bad idea. Blake was usually very good at knowing when an idea was very very bad. It was a miracle she hadn't realized until now just how much danger this endeavor actually was. Until now. 

The men had cuffed her and hurled her into the back of the van with more force than needed. "For the last time," She hissed. "I'm not an unwind!"

"That's what they all say, kid." The driver called back. The officer in the passenger's seat banged on the screen of bullet proof glass that separated her from them. Blake didn't even flinch. She could see the officer's face contort to one of distaste and he turned back around. Guess he didn't want to play around if she wouldn't react. "We'll be at Atlas Harvest Camp in about an hour or so. We just gotta do a couple more pickups." The driver stated, pulling out a clipboard. "One actual pickup and then we need to round up another half dozen to meet quota."

"So is that what you do? You kidnap random kids on the streets for 'quota'?" The officer banged his fist against the glass again. "Shut up, back there!" Blake scowled back, hoping he could see her sour expression in the rear view mirror. It went ignored. Blake let out a loud sigh and slouched against the uncomfortable van floor. The handcuffs were too tight on her wrists ad the officers clearly didn't believe in turning on the AC. Beads of sweat began to form on her temple, partly from the heat but also from the tension. She had to get out of here and soon. Preferably before they reached Atlas. Once they hit Atlas it was all over for her. 

It seemed to take forever before they finally started moving. The driver took every opportunity to brake check, effectively catching Blake off guard the first few times, causing her to slam her head into side of the van. Each time there was a hollow bang, she could hear the two goons up front laugh maniacally. They loved causing pain. Probably why they chose the job. 

There were no windows in the back of the van and time was all subjective back here, so she had no way of telling how far they had gone from her starting place.  _He's probably waiting for me back there. I have to get back soon._  She couldn't even risk pulling out her phone to see if he had made it the checkpoint or if he was looking for her. She couldn't send a quick text asking for help. She would just have to wait. 

Another eternity passed before they stopped once more. The driver killed the engine and opened the door. "Stay put." He said with a laugh. Blake raised both middle fingers. The officers stalked off into the cul-de-sac they had pulled off into. Through the front window Blake could see that the cul-de-sac was framed on one side by thick woods. This is where they were probably going to round up the half dozen or so kids for the quota. She knew that both runaways and unwinds liked to seek refuge in wooded areas. They seemed to believe they were safe there, even though everyone and their mom knew to look in the woods for them. 

Blake waited a long while. She had to make sure that they were long gone before she put her plan into action. When she deemed the coast clear, she carefully reached into her hair and wrestled out a bobby pin. It took a bit of maneuvering to put it in her mouth and then to pick the lock of her cuffs with just her mouth and a bobby pin. But she had done this plenty of times. She moved fast and managed to free herself just in time. She heard a loud scream echoing from the woods and she knew that they had captured their prey. She had to act fast. 

The driver had caught not one, not two, but THREE AWOL unwinds. The brats had all been travelling together and they refused to leave each other behind. It was pathetically cute. They could all make their final trip to camp together. He led three handcuffed kids back to the van. His partner was still picking up the kid and combing the woods for stragglers. The brats had refused to spit out any helpful information, they mostly just cried and whined. No wonder their parents had signed them away from unwinding. Maybe they could all be useful in a divided state. 

The officer reaches for the van's back door. Just as he's about to open it, one of the kids started fidgeting. Looks shifty, whispering to his "friends". The cop snarled and lifted his shirt. The shiny metal of his tranq gun caught the sun and glinted in clear view of the kids. The older looking girl wrapped her arms around the younger's shoulders. There. That ought to kill any ideas of running or fighting back. He turned back to the door and opened it. He was prepared for the girl inside to run at him or try and squirm her way out. Most of them did. He actually hoped for it, he could show these new catches what happened if they tried anything with him. 

But when he peered inside she wasn't even there. 

"What the hell?!" He turned to the three and pointed in the girl's face. "Stay put." He climbed into the van, searching for her. There was only one place to hide, under the wooden bench they had recently put in. But she was too big to squeeze under there, wasn't she? She looked like she was about 16 or 17, the oldest that unwinds could be. "Come on, there's no way she could have gotten out." He muttered. The van wasn't big at all, and it locked from the outside. It was as if the dark skinned girl had melted into the shadows themselves.

"You're right." A voice sounded from behind him. He had no time to react before he was met with a kick to the face and a rough shove. The girl pinned him against the bench and cuffed one hand to the leg. The officer felt hands digging through each of his pockets, taking whatever she felt necessary to take. Naturally, the handcuff and van keys were a part of that. 

Blake took a running leap, hitting the ground and rolling to her feet. She turned to the three, standing still as statues. "Come with me if you want to stay whole." It was a simple enough command. Straight to the point. The youngest, probably just turned 13 looked eager to follow. The other two seemed reluctant. They had obviously been at this much longer. Or they at the very least knew not to trust anyone out of the blue.

Blake brought herself to her full height. She towered over the three of them, the kitten heels on her boots giving her an extra boost. She dangled the keys almost tauntingly, the light clinking of the metal speaking of freedom. The older girl looked at the younger kids and considered their options. The two gazed up at her, scared yet hopeful at the same time. The two of them nodded. "Okay. Let's go with her." 

The three rushed towards Blake and one by one she unlocked the handcuffs. "Where do we go? Back to the woods?"

"No. That's the first place they'd look." Blake thought long and hard. "Plus there's still another one out he-"

"HEY!" The 13 year old jumped nearly a mile in the air. The other Juvey-Cop had come back. He only had one kid with him, obviously the one they were scheduled to pick up. He was turning a comically angry red and if they weren't in obvious danger it might have been funny. He quickly pushed the kid into the van, where the driver grabbed him with his free hand. To ensure that they didn't lose another one while they hunted down these four. Blake's heart started to race. She couldn't get herself caught again, they would take them all straight to Atlas to avoid any trouble from them. Blake needed an expert plan. 

"SCATTER!" She shrieked. It would have to work for now. 

The three unwinds took off in different directions. They must've heeded her warning about the woods as all of them headed into the maze of nearly identical homes that line the cul-de-sac and disappeared into the suburbs. Blake vowed to try and meet up with them all again later. At the moment her primary concern was the angry cop running towards her. Blake crouched, steeling herself for whatever he could throw at her. 

The second he was upon her she swiveled on her toes and swept his legs out from under him. He hit the street with a loud and pained cry. She rolled back and away from him, waiting to see if he got back up. He didn't, so she cautiously stood. "For the last time, I'm not an unwind. Think about that the next time you pick up some random kid off the street." He groaned in pain. Good. Blake backed away a few more steps before turning and running into the woods. 

* * *

Adam scowled at his cellphone. Nothing. He hadn't gotten so much as a notification for nearly 2 hours now. "Where is she?" One of the masked goons shrugged. "I dunno man, why are you asking me?" Adam's scowl became even scowlier. If that was even possible. Adam slammed his fist against the steering wheel, causing the three underlings he had brought along to flinch. 

"If we don't get anything for the next 30 minutes, you go out and find her. Or I will unwind the three of you myself." 

"Yessir!"

* * *

 

Blake ran until her feet began to ache from her boots and she no longer felt the dull sting from branches snapping back at her.

Blake hadn’t run this much in years. Then again, she had never been picked up before. Sure, she had been spotted thousands of times but she usually managed to outsmart the Cops before they nabbed her. Usually telling them that she wasn’t an Unwind did the trick. Even though she was against their practices, she believed that most Juvey-Cops were good people at heart. Good people who had made terrible life decisions, but still good people.    
She hadn’t been lying when she said she wasn’t an unwind. She really wasn’t. Blake was one of the few lucky ones that could truly believe her parents had never even considered unwinding her. That wasn’t enough, though. She had ran away from home a few years ago. 

At first she wandered the world, searching for her purpose in life. She had managed to travel all the way from a small town in Ohio to Austin of all places. Once she was in Austin, she would stop by safehouses every so often. That was where she had gotten her first glimpse of what AWOL life was like. Kids, young and old, fighting to survive in the harsh concrete jungle. The most she had seen packed into one place at the same time was in an abandoned K-Mart that the kinds people running the house had bought and transformed. There were over 100 kids there when she had stopped in. All of them had a story, a name. And knowing that their own government wanted to strip this mostly innocent children of that for money sickened her to the core. 

That was when Blake decided to start fighting too. Seeing as she was only 15 herself at the time, she had no means to start a safehouse. Plus the massive city was still a riddle to her. On her own, she would have never been able to help in the ways she wanted. In the end, Blake joined up with a group that called themselves the “White Fang”. They told her that they worked day and night to free kids from the clutches of the Juvey-Cops, everything from raids on stations to ambushing cargo vans that hauled them off to Harvest camps. It was everything she had dreamed of doing and more. They had even set up a small system of safehouses that took the kids directly to Beacon, a safe haven for unwinds. Blake, of course, had never seen it. But something in her gut told her that it was real and that what the White Fang was doing was right. 

Blake finally found a place to rest. She slumped against the rough bark of a thick, tall tree. Her pants were caked in dirt and leaves, and had a long rip from the knee to the hem. She would have to replace them soon, she supposed. As soon as she was certain that the coast was clear, she pulled out her phone.

_Got caught dont come looking_

Blake started at the text for a moment before adding ' _I MEAN IT'_  and sending the message. 

Blake and her partner had been on their way to finding Beacon when they separated. They had found themselves in a suburb near the edge of the city limits. They were relatively close to the city limit and they believe that leaving town would lead them to somewhere where they could at least find some clues. The two of them were waiting at a bus stop when her partner saw the cops coming up the road. Unlike her, he was an unwind. If they caught him he was done for. So they planned to split up and try and act normal until the cops were out of the area. Then they would meet back at the bus stop and catch the next one going out of town. 

She supposed it was her outfit that made her suspicious. It was a mismatched, patched up mess of an ensemble. Her partner's hoodie over an old cut-off tank top and frayed jeans. It looked like she had just crawled out of a dumpster. Plus her dark complexion didn't help her either. The two of them split and the cops ended up following her. When she had told them that she wasn't an unwind, just someone down on their luck, they had laughed in her face. The two of them grabbed her and cuffed her, which led up to what was currently transpiring. 

Blake's ears perked up at the sound of rustling. There was someone or something nearby. The sudden tension of the situation reminded her somewhat of a game she had seen a couple kids playing in a safehouse that was held in a kind family's basement. It was one of those games where you had to hold still or risk being caught and killed by the monster. She never really liked that game. She slid her phone back into her pocket and braced herself against the tree. Cautiously, she snuck a glance over her shoulder. She could see the telltale bright colored Juvey uniform sticking out against the summery green of the foliage. Either the driver had managed to get free or the other had recovered from his beating. Or both. God she hoped it wasn't both. 

She fished the van keys from her pocket and threw them in the opposite direction as hard as she could while still trying to make as little noise as possible. "Hm. Oh, not so stealthy now, are you?" The officer snickered. Like he was one to talk. Luckily he was stupid too and started for the keys, thinking he had reclaimed his catch of the day. While he was distracted Blake wove her way between the trees and bushes, stepping over twigs that would give her away. It was going well, she might actually get out of here in one piece. 

Until she tripped. 

She bit her lip to keep any yelps of surprise locked inside, but the loud **THUMP** of her body against the solid ground was enough to catch his attention. "Two o' ya out here? My my, how unfortunate." She heard the rustle coming towards her once more and she hurried to her feet. She would have to run again, there was no use trying to hide anymore. It was fine, she was faster than he was. The only reason she had been caught the first time was because they surprised and cornered her. She couldn't let herself be cornered again. So she began running. Sprinting, more like it. Jumping over logs, swerving around rocks and large branches. She leapt across a shallow dip in the earth and landed on one knee before taking off once more. No matter how fast she went, it seemed like he was always just feet away. 

The edge of the woods had to be close now, but she couldn't hear the highway yet. Wouldn't she be able to hear the highway if she was that close? Thoughts began to swarm and she lost her focus. She didn't see the body in front of her until she was colliding with it head on. Her first instinct was to squirm away from whoever or whatever it was and keep going, but a strong hand grabbed her shoulder and held her in place. Said place happened to be a very ample bosom. In her current position she could hear a rapid heartbeat and heavy breathing. Blake blushed. 

"Hey! Stay where you are!" The Juvey-Cop hollered. "Let me go, he's going to kill me!" Blake hissed. But they remained diligent. She frantically squirmed and managed to turn herself around, but not break free. The cop was hauling ass, gun out and ready to take them both down. "Please, I'll do anything if you just let me go!"

"Hold still." Her captor holds her closer and raises one arm. There's a loud POP! and a shout and Blake flinches, expecting to feel the sharp pain of a tranq dart -or worse, a real bullet- in her skin. But the pain never comes. The Juvey stared at the dark sticking out of his forearm before falling backwards as the serum flooded his system. Blake, to say the least, was shocked. Finally the other body released her and she got an eyeful of who had saved her life. 

The girl was blonde, built like a tank, and covered in blood from a wound on her head. In short, she was gorgeous but looked like hell all at the same time. Blake felt her cheeks warming slightly at the sight of her. The girl smiled a blinding smile, and replaced the tranq gun in the pocket of her baggy pants.

"You're welcome, by the way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like I don't know anything about geography so just imagine all the cities are like a dystopian sci-fi future version of them so i dont look like a complete fool


	3. Weiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss never cared for the Unwindees. Until she came face to face with one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow another chapter???????? So soon????????? and an update schedule that no one can follow bc i literally just do it whenever I feel like it???????#blessed

"Mr. Schnee, there is trouble in the garden." Jacques sighed heavily and set down his tea cup. He rose to his full height, towering over the poor butler they had sent to deliver the news. "Stay here." He commanded his children, Weiss and Whitley, who had began to rise from their seats as well. Whitley obediently lowered himself back into his seat immediately. Weiss instead chose to stay standing, at attention until the butler escorted her father out of the manor and into the garden behind the lavish house. 

"Father said to stay here." Whitley called as his sister slowly made her way to the bay window. "I"m not going anywhere, I'm just looking." The "trouble" had not been a simply problem with the pansies. In fact, it had little to do with the garden or it's flowers at all. Weiss could see four guards, all armed with shields, cornering a small looking teenage boy. Behind these guards stood the butler and her father, who had been equipped with a megaphone. She couldn't clearly make out the commands he was shouting at the boy seeing as the sitting room was on the second floor. But she knew the gist of it. "Leave the property or face the consequences!"

The boy was an unwind from the nearby harvest camp. By "nearby", that meant that the Atlas Harvest Camp was only a barbed wire fence away from the Schnee's beautifully kept garden and backyard. Surprisingly, more unwinds managed to escape than expected. And usually the first place they would run for was the extravagant house, hoping to hide or find refuge within the decorated walls. Little did they know that guards were constantly patrolling the grounds, ensuring the safety of the Schnee family and the misguided unwinds who couldn't accept their fate and ease into their divided state. At least, that's what Weiss believed. 

"Father will be very upset with you if something were to go wrong. What if that thing sees you?" Weiss shot a glance at her brother and went right back to ignoring him. "Nothing will happen. And if it did, we know where Father keeps his guns." The boy below was still moving towards the house. With each step he took forward, the shield wielding guards moved back. Their job wasn't to drive him back, it was to protect Jacques and his home. If it became necessary, they would shoot him with their tranq guns. But if an unwind had the serum in their system their unwinding date was pushed back at least 48 hours, which meant the staff over at Atlas would have to rework their entire unwinding schedule for the next two days which would probably put them behind schedule even more. The camp prided itself in being the most efficient in Texas, perhaps even the entire world. And if the most efficient camp in the world was behind on anything, it could cause disaster. And the first ones to feel those shocks of disaster would be the Schnees.

The boy stopped moving and glanced up. Weiss started slightly and backed away from the window but it was too late. He saw her. His face changed from scared to something Weiss couldn't place. The emotion was gone as quickly as it had come and suddenly he wasn't scared anymore. He raised his hands over his head. There were a few loud shouts from the guards and Weiss saw her father retreat back into the house. The unwind began to clap. 

 _One_.

"Get down." Weiss managed to choke out, barely above a whisper. Whitley rose from his seat and walked over to see what was causing his sister such a panic. 

 _Two_.

The guards braced themselves in front of the house. "Whitley, I mean it, get down!" Weiss turned on her heel and practically dove beneath the table, grabbing her brother's wrist and pulling him down with her. 

_Three._

Nothing. But the air was so thick with tension that no one dared to move.

_Four claps does the trick._

The explosion rattled the windows in their frames. Weiss bit her tongue to keep in a scream and even Whitley was uncharacteristically clinging to her for protection. One of the teacups shook hard enough that it tumbled off the edge of the table. Weiss managed to throw her hand out and catch it before it shattered. "Another clapper." she murmured.

Clappers were terrorists who used their own bodies as weapons. They would somehow fuse their bloodstream with highly explosive liquids and let it sit until the levels of explosives in their bodies were so potent that a single clap could detonate them. They saw a few of them each year. Usually they attacked the camp, never risking scaling the fence. If they landed too hard they could detonate prematurely. If they were going to risk climbing the fence, they had ever intention of hurting the Schnee family. Weiss supposed that seeing her in the window had settled the clapper's nerves and reminded him of what he came all this way to do. Though she couldn't understand why he would kill himself just to destroy them.

Whitley crawled out from beneath the table and made his way to the window. The clapper had been so close that some of his blood had managed to splash all the way up to their window. "Get back here, there could be more coming!" The fear was irrational, any other attackers would have been caught and subdued before they even reached the fence. But Weiss couldn't live with herself if something happened to her brother on her watch. Whitley clucked his tongue at the scene below. It was as gory as they came, yet the young boy didn't seem phased at all.

"Mother is going to be so upset. It scorched her freesias." 

* * *

Dinnertime was almost as tense as the clapper attack. Jacques had spent the rest of his afternoon in his study and had advised his children to stay inside and away from the windows. A crew had been sent from the harvest camp to clean up the clapper's remains and try to salvage the garden. As Whitley had predicted, Mother had been very distraught, judging by the three and a half glasses of wine that accompanied supper. The food that the cooks had so carefully prepared sadly went untouched by the younger Schnees. Jacques didn't seem to notice their discomfort. He spoke loudly and proudly of the attack and how it had worked out in the end. 

"That's what I love about the clappers. A shame how they waste their parts like that, but I suppose it's better than having to send so many guards over to escort an escaped mongrel back over."

"The cleanup is dreadful, though. I think that the crew spent nearly three hours scrubbing blood out of the flower beds." 

"Ah, leave it be. When it decomposes it'll make excellent mulch. Finally good for something, that boy is." 

Weiss pushed her chair back and stood up. "I'm not hungry. Excuse me." Before she could be met with protest she exited the dining hall and returned to her room. The way they talked so lightly about a child blowing himself up in their own backyard sickened her. The fact that they had chose to build their home only yards away from a harvest camp sickened her. The blood and gore of it all made her stomach churn. She couldn't believe that her own sister could work as an official, a respected nurse, in a room where souls were taken from their bodies and split up. Though, she supposed someone had to do it. 

Most of the inhabitants of Atlas Harvest camp were delinquents. Kids who fought or stole or drank and drove. That was why they were at the best of the camps. The camp with the largest staff and grandest security measures. Because they were nothing but trouble. They deserved to be divided and put to use. Her father had been right about that. He constantly insisted that unwinds were no longer human, that they lost their humanity when their parents signed the orders. They were parts that needed a safe place to stay before their unwinding came. Because if they weren't protected, they would become hurt or pregnant and then they couldn't be unwound until those inconveniences cleared up. If an unwind couldn't be unwound on their specified date, there would be a parts shortage. If there was a parts shortage, people would go without working eyes, or permanently mangled limbs, or faulty hearts that would slow to a stop before their time. Weiss couldn't imagine how the people down in those camps could be so selfish and not see how they would be able to prevent the loss of life. To put it simply, Weiss supported the idea of unwinding, but the actual process made her uneasy.

And of course, clappers made her feel the most uneasy. They had decided that their life was better spent bloodying the world instead of healing it. Doing just what had been done today but in harvest camps or schools or businesses that openly supported unwinding. To know that the one who had managed to get over to their side today had specifically come to harm them terrified her to the core. That a clapper had almost given up entirely until he had seen her in the window. The mere idea of hurting a Schnee, mentally or physically, spurred him on and he had followed through with his suicide in their garden. 

Weiss sat on her bed and stared forlornly out the window. The searchlights of the guard towers were swiveling slowly over the harvest camp's grounds. The alarm that sounded when an escaped unwind was spotted by the lights hadn't rang in months. It hadn't even rang today. She wondered if Ironwood was starting to lose his iron grip on the camp and it's staff. Though that didn't sound like the Ironwood she knew. 

The Ironwood she knew ran the camp like a military operation. Seeing as Atlas was the only camp that sent parts directly to the armed forces all over the world, it made sense that he would have a hand or two in those affiliations. Winter, her older sister, had left behind the title of heiress to the family company to work under Ironwood. Stability, she had claimed. Ironwood gave her the stable environment she had always wanted. Now that she was older, Weiss knew that Winter would have never found that at home or in the company. Which is why she had passed the title onto her, who had passed it to Whitley. Whitely was the only one who seemed genuinely interested in taking over.

The Schnee family was the number one producer and seller of tranquilizers and tranq guns. Obviously, their biggest client was the Juvey-Cops and the guards that secured camps nationwide. And, as Weiss had learned in her time as the heiress, a few illicit partners overseas. In short, their products were always in demand, and with the recent spike in juvenile delinquency and riots in camps, they were needed more than ever. Just a few weeks ago she heard of a riot in a small Nebraskan camp where the terrorist group that called themselves "White Fang" had broken in and "liberated" over a thousand unwinds. Juvey-cops in Omaha and Lincoln were working 24/7 to reclaim the loose unwinds. Business poured in nearly immediately after from Nebraska and several other neighboring states. The flow of business had yet to cease. 

Weiss turned away from her window and curled up on her plush comforter. The feathery pillows felt like heaven itself was cradling her head and the sheer softness of it all lulled her into sleep.

* * *

Nearly 2 weeks passed before her father allowed the children to walk the grounds once more. And, naturally, they weren't allowed to go without an escort.

"Klein," The stout butler looked up from his diligent work of polishing the grand staircase's banister and smiled at her. "I would like to walk in the garden. If you could spare some of your time, I wish you to accompany me."

"Anything for you, Miss Schnee. But are you sure you'd like to roam the gardens so soon?" Klein was the only one who knew how much the clapper attack had actually effected Weiss. It wasn't that he was the only one who would listen, more like he was the only one who would understand. Klein had been a loyal servant of the Schnee household for many years and had seen many a clapper attack in the past. He had even lost his right eye shielding Winter from an explosion, giving him the most peculiar case of artificial heterochromia.

"I'm.... I think I'll be fine. We can just stay close to the house, where they can't see us?" Klein nodded. "Of course, you can finish up this job first. Here, I'll help." Weiss stooped to grab a stray rag but Klein stopped her. "Really, there's no need for that, Miss. Though if you were Master Whitley..." Weiss giggled.

Klein had been more like a father to her than anyone. He joked with her, played with her when she was younger, cooked for her when she was sick. He would do anything for her at the drop of a hat. He listened to her problems. He had been their through every stage of her life and had held her hand and helped her soar. Her real father was more concerned with the state of his company rather than the state of his daughter. In the last 2 weeks, he hadn't even asked her or Whitley if they were okay. A boy had exploded in their backyard and he hadn't even brought up how that could affect their mental health. Of course, living so close to a harvest camp couldn't have been good for them either. 

Despite his protests, Weiss helped him finish his task and the two of them made their way to the garden. For a long while, Weiss idled on the vast patio. From here she could see the light scorch marks still burned into her mother's flower beds and all she could see was the boy standing there staring at her with his hands raised high above his head. "Don't push yourself. If you want to return inside there's nothing wrong with that." The thought sat in her mind. It wasn't too late to turn back. She could go back into the manor and ask Klein for his specialty coffee to calm her nerves. But she couldn't live in fear forever. She couldn't idle on life's patio instead of seizing the opportunities it had presented her. 

"I'll be fine." She placed on high heeled foot in front of the other, taking the first slow steps into the garden. Klein gently took her arm and took equally small, slow steps. "It's a lovely day." He murmured. Weiss nodded. It was indeed. Not overcast like the day of the attack, warm but not sweltering. In the distance she could see the unwinds in the camp yard, some competing in small sports competitions, some simply sitting and talking. None of them had seen her. No one was making a dash for the fence or clapping with the intention of killing. It was all fine. She was going to be just fine. 

They made it father into the garden than expected. The two of them walked arm in arm up a cobblestone pathway to a small gazebo near the garden's edge. Weiss took a seat on the creaky wooden bench. "I'm sure you have work to do back inside, why don't you tend to it?" Klein began to protest and Weiss held up her hand. "I will be okay. Father doesn't have to know. Please, I insist." Klein seemed reluctant, but did as she asked. Weiss sat in silence for a long time, pondering the many things. Her existence, the unwinds, everything. Her hands started toying with the hem of her dress and she began to zone out. The world around her and all of its noises and colors faded to the back of her mind. 

She barely noticed the hands on her shoulders. She glanced up, expecting to see Klein or a guard telling her that tea time was soon and she must return to the sitting room. Shock coursed through her when an unfamiliar face filled her vision. A tanned boy with clear blue eyes and ratty blond hair stared back at her. Weiss flinched and tried to move away from him but his grip on her shoulders tightened. "Let me go! I'll, I'll scream for help!" As quickly as he had appeared he snapped a hand over her mouth. "Don't. Please, you have to hide me." 

His eyes were glinting with something. Fear? Malice? How had he gotten past the fence without someone noticing? He was an unwind from the camp, right? His face and his white t-shirt was smudged with dirt and dried blood and his jeans were full of holes. His shoes were even caked with mud. Why was no one coming to apprehend him? Had he killed the guards? Was he a clapper too? Weiss debated biting his hands but if he really was a clapper then a single bite could detonate him and kill them both. 

"Please, I'm begging you. Just-just let me in your house for a little bit. No one will know and I'll be out of your hair before you know it! Just let me inside!" Weiss was terrified. First he grabs her and then demands to let someone as filthy as him into her home where he father could find both of them? She knew that letting him in would put them both in danger. Him for being an unwind (probably) and her for harboring one. The family would be shamed forever and it would be all her fault. She couldn't let that happen. 

"Hey, where'd he go?!" Voices were approaching. The gazebo was hidden well in the boughs of two thick maple trees, so whoever was looking for the boy wouldn't be able to spot them right off the bat. Fear flashed through the boys eyes and he released Weiss in favor of diving into the foliage that surrounded the gazebo. Weiss stood. She could call out right now and let him be captured. But then she saw blue eyes peering up at her, pleading with her to keep quiet. And he looked so sad. So scared. So....human. 

"Guards!" Weiss stormed out of the gazebo and caught the attention of two armed Juvey-Cops. Their badges placed their station in inner city Austin, nearly an hour away from the manor. They recognized her instantly. "Miss Schnee! Ma'am, you shouldn't be out here unaccompanied. We had an unwind escape about 15 miles down the road and we have reason to believe that he might be hiding somewhere nearby. Please, if you'll just come with us and-" He took her wrist in his hands and Weiss immediately snatched it away.

"Are you aware of where you are? You are in the prestigious Schnee garden! And what shares a border with our garden? Atlas Harvest Camp. The best in the world? I'm sure if you managed to screw up and lose your charge, then the competent staff over there has already caught him." She crossed her arms over her chest. "If you're lucky, they might believe you dropped him off to handle another AWOL spotted on your way here. Though, I doubt it." The guards began to fidget nervously. "I suppose it would be better if you didn't address them face to face. Best to get on your way and back to your jobs. Assuming you can do them properly."

The cops stiffly turned and exited her garden. "What an Ice Queen." One of them whispered. Weiss stood in her place still as a statue until they were long gone before returning to the boy in the bushes. He had moved out onto the bench and was picking leaves out of his messy mane. Now that she was level headed, she got a good long look at the boy. He was bandaged on his arms and legs, and underneath the dingy wrappings Weiss could faintly make out scars. A few on his arms, maybe two on his legs, and one long one going from the scalp down his right cheek. Like he had been methodically cut by an attacker. Or worse, a parent. He noticed her and perked up. "You didn't rat me out."

"I didn't see a reason to." The answer was simple. Simply a lie, but an answer nonetheless. 

"So.... you a tithe?" He motioned to her all white ensemble. Oh, maybe that's why he had targeted her. He probably thought she was a tithe, who were often very easily manipulated by threat of harm to their sacred bodies. She shook her head. "Are you a criminal?"

"I am an unwind, if that's what you're asking. Well, I'm an AWOL now. Why, you gonna run back to those cops and tell them?" Weiss shook her head again. "Cool. I knew you were cool." Reluctantly, Weiss made her way to the bench and sat down. A fair distance between them, but friendly. He smiled. "The name's Sun. Sun Wukong. And you?" How could he not know who she was?! He came into her backyard! There was a plaque on the front gate that said "SCHNEE"! 

"Weiss Schnee. Nice to make your..... nice to meet you?" He held out his hand, which she shook. "Listen. You may stay in my room for a few days. No more! And if you are caught I know nothing of you or your presence. Remember, Atlas is just beyond that fence and I am more than willing to turn you in." He shrugged his shoulders. 

"Sounds good to me, Ice Queen."

Weiss couldn't believe she was going to do this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so if its not clear i don't know what im doing ever?


	4. Ruby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby Rose would do anything for her family. Even if that meant risking her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So like???????????? I'm not even sure what I'm doing? More people like this than I thought would and I really really love writing for this AU if u haven't noticed. But after this, updates might not come like every other day or so. I'll try and establish a normal update schedule but since i work nights on weekdays it will probably be on Saturdays or Sundays.

She had woken up to an empty house that day. Well, Zwei was there, but everyone else was gone. Ruby was surprisingly used to this by now. Yang had her own friends and her own life, and Taiyang had to teach a class on proper Juvey-Cop etiquette every so often. Usually she would lounge around in her pajamas until somebody came home. Today was one of those days. Until it wasn't. 

There was a harsh knock on the front door around 11 am. Ruby set aside the box of cereal she had been idly munching on and shuffled for the door. She peeked out of the peephole,since she wasn't supposed to open the door for strangers, and she was greeted by two women in the oh-so familiar Juvey-Cop uniform. Assuming that they either worked with her dad or Qrow, Ruby figured it would be fine to let them in. So she opened the door. The woman on the left smiled politely and tipped her cap. "G'morning, young lady. My partner and I are from the JC station down on Bluestein Blvd" Ruby nodded. She knew where that was, but it wasn't Qrow's station. Now a small bit of dread was beginning to wrap around her. If they weren't friend's of the family, they were here on business. And she knew that Juvey business usually worked in the same vein as taking in AWOLs. 

"I'm....not in trouble, am I?" The woman on the left laughed. But her partner remained stone faced.  

"No no, honey. Nothing like that. But we will need you to come with us." Ruby tried to stop herself from becoming visibly frightened. She couldn't go with strangers, not even if they were officers of the law. Especially not if they were officers who specialized in taking kids from their homes and whisking them away to harvest camps where they would be taken apart like nothing. She didn't know why she so scared of them though? If she was going to be unwound her dad would tell her, and she wasn't scared of Uncle Qrow even though he did the exact same job as these women. "I...I think I need to know why?" The two exchanged a glance. They probably weren't expecting her to argue with them. She wondered how young and naive they thought she was when they were sent to retrieve her.

"Well, young lady, it's a bit complicated... We don't really wanna scare you more than we already have. Uh...." She turned to her partner nervously. The woman on the right sighed. "Just tell her, Irene. She's not a baby, she's a teenager. She'll understand." Irene wrung her hands together. "But the matter is kind of.... dark? I don't think it's appropriate to just blurt it out! She might not want to come with us! They should have just sent Qrow..."

"He's on the call that was sent out. They think seeing him will make it easier to reclaim-"

"But what about the girl?"

"She'll be fine!"

"I'm still right here." Ruby was mere seconds away from slamming the door on these women. Why wouldn't they just give her a straight answer? It was getting annoying. Like the women were being written by an author who took one creative writing class and now they had to drag out every single interaction they had no matter how long and tedious it got for the reader. Ruby had just begun to swing the door shut when the stone faced woman caught it. Her neutral bored expression, turned to a far more serious one. "There's been an accident and you need to come with us to the hospital." Ruby froze. 

"But I'm still in my pjs."

* * *

The women had given her time to change into real clothes and gather a backpack full of things to keep her busy. They assured her that she would be at the hospital for a very long time without actually telling her who or what was involved. They barely spoke to her while on their way to the hospital at all, actually. They even had her sit in the back of the squad car. Like a common criminal. She was just a scared and confused kid, she didn't understand why this was all happening. 

Ruby didn't get answers until they reached the hospital half way across the city. When she asked why they had brought her to the one so far away from home they told her that this was much closer to the scene. "What does that mean?" 

Irene handed her off to a nurse. "Xiao Long's kid is here. Sorry we can't stick around, we're on the call for the AWOL." The nurse gently placed her hands on Ruby's shoulders. Immediately, she felt much more at ease. Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the hospital. Even though the accident, whatever it was, had still happened she felt so much better in the arms of a nurse than in the custody of the Juvey-Cops. "Come on, miss. We can go to the waiting room and talk there."

The nurse's name was Caiti. She had mismatched eyes and smile lines crossing her motherly face that danced when she spoke . Though, her smile seemed a bit forced. Like she was afraid that if she let it go Ruby would begin to panic and do something drastic. Ruby wondered how many previous children had done so in the face of tragedy. For a long while, even Caiti avoided the subject. She asked Ruby about school, if she had any friends and what her favorite subjects to study were. Caiti even answer a few questions about herself. 

"When I was younger I got into a fight with some bullies who were trying to hurt a cat I had been taking care of. This cat had recently had kittens and I guess she didn't want to just run away and leave those awful boys with her babies. So I jumped in and well.... I got hurt pretty bad. Now this was a few years before unwinding was legalized so you could only get parts from organ donors and blood drives ran by the local hospitals. My experience actually led to my fascination with the medical field."

"Is that why your eyes are weird?" Caiti laughed. "You're a very smart girl, Ruby Rose. My eye did get injured in the fight, but technology wasn't quite ready for the kinds of transplants we do here today. So the eye I have is a false one. Made of glass." 

"Oh! I've heard of those. Prosthetics, right? But I thought they were only used for arms or legs?" Ruby had done a bit of research on outdated prosthetic tech, mainly to see if it was possible to combine a false arm with a gun or something like that. Most of her knowledge of those sorts of arms came from movies. Most of her knowledge in general came from movies, actually. "Most commonly, they were. Sometimes even hands and teeth. Those were called dentures. But if you needed an organ replaced you had to wait on a list or even in some cases rely on animal parts. So when the war was concluded and the accord was signed, I knew that the world would be better in the end." 

Ruby nodded. "But enough about that. What've you got in your bag?" The two of them spent the next hour going through a sketchbook filled with drawings of a girl with a wicked looking scythe and her partner, a blonde with huge gauntlets. Her sister and her, drawn as heros of a world that was teeming with strange monsters and sinister plots. The people were kind of drawn in a lumpy anime style, but the weapons. "You've spent a lot of time on these, eh?" 

"Yeah... I'm, uh, kind of a weapon geek." Ruby was about half way though a weapons rant when another nurse entered the scene. He placed a hand on Caiti's shoulder. "He's ready for visitors, now." Caiti turned solemn. "Thank you, Jack. Ruby," Ruby fidgeted nervously in her seat, "I need you to come with me. I'll tell you all about it on the way."

Nothing could have prepared Ruby for the news that Caiti gave her.

Because for the first time all morning, somebody was straight with her. 

Caiti told her that there had been an accident about an hour outside of the city, a only one car was involved but both parties were hurt. Well, according to eye witnesses. The second person from the car had retreated after pulling a gun on the driver. That's why so many juvies had been called out on the job. The passenger was a candidate for unwinding, and in fleeing had become an AWOL. That was why they had sent so many out to retrieve her, as well as her uncle. Caiti didn't even have to tell her who the driver was, she knew right away. In her heart, she knew the passenger's identity too. But she didn't want to believe it was true. 

Taiyang was barely awake when Ruby entered the room, yet he still managed a smile for his daughter. She was at his side in a blink. "Hey, kiddo. Hope you didn't wait long." He had been under examination for a long while to make sure that his injuries weren't fatal. He had two fractured ribs and a pretty nasty head wound, but any cranial trauma was under control for now. He had also been shot with an extremely potent type of the serum, the kind that could kill if the dosage was too high. That was why most Juvies were equipped with only four darts, so they wouldn't be tempted to wasted all of them on a single AWOL thus killing them before they could turn them in for parts. Taiyang was on an IV to purge said toxins from his system. Ruby had never seen anyone this beat up before.

"I'll leave you two alone. Call if you need anything, Mr. Xiao Long." Caiti exited quickly and quietly. Ruby's anxieties were pouring out of her mouth in an instant. "Dad! Wh-what happened? Why were you driving a squad car instead of our car? Are you going to be okay? Where's the other-" She took a deep breath and swiped at her eyes to stop the flow of tears that had started without her knowledge. "Where's Yang?"

Ruby wanted him to tell her the truth, but she didn't know if she wanted to hear it at the same time. She wanted the truth, but only if the truth was that Yang wasn't there. That Yang wasn't the AWOL who had shot their father and crashed a car. Taiyang didn't have to say a word. The hesitance crossed his face before it made it to his lips and Ruby knew that no matter how hard she wished it not to be true, there was no denying it. 

"Why would you have Yang unwound?"

* * *

 

Hours passed before somebody came to take Ruby home. While she was grateful to leave behind the somber air and the smells of anesthetic and sickness she didn't want to let her father out of her sight while he was in such a state. Even if he had had her sister condemned. Despite the long hours together, she still didn't understand why. It didn't seem fair, to send her away because of a silly fight. A fight Yang hadn't even started! Yang didn't know, but Ruby had watched the whole thing. 

The Malachite twins were provoking her sister, as usual. The two of them were stuck up and thought that their connections with Junior Xiong made them untouchable just because his father ran the most successful club in the area. They were teasing Yang for her weight when she had snapped. Yang had a tendency to punch first and ask questions later but she had been working on it. Ruby could tell, because when Melanie pinched her wide hips instead of immediately sending her flying Yang had clenched her fist and said in a low voice "Just leave me alone." 

But they didn't. So she swung and they swung back and it all ended in a loud SNAP! when Milita's wrist had broken and the crowd cleared out like roaches under bright light. People had been gossiping about possible punishments that she would receive, either from the principal or from Junior himself. Unwinding had been spoken of, but Ruby didn't acknowledge that kind of talk. Her sister was good at heart. They wouldn't unwind someone like her. Ruby hated being wrong. 

The next few days the routine repeated. She even missed school for the first few days of the week. To stay updated with her father, they told her. To avoid teasing from her peers, they meant. Not many kids in the area had ever had a sibling unwound, and those who did often lashed out emotionally and physically, which could lead to their own unwinding. The school didn't want to get a reputation for sending kids away because only delinquents get unwound and if they were sending away a lot that meant they had a lot of delinquents. No one wanted that kind of image for their establishment, let alone a school in the middle of Austin. 

It wasn't until a week later that they finally let Ruby stay home by herself. She started that Saturday the same way she had started the last. All alone in an empty house, lounging around in her pajamas eating Pumpkin Pete cereal directly out of the box with her dog. When she was sure that no one was coming over to check on her or haul her off to the hospital for a surprise visit, she put her true plan into action. 

"Be good, Zwei." The corgi gave a little yip and she pulled her red hoodie over her head. Her school bag had been emptied and refilled with clothing, shoes, and money she had stolen from her father's sock drawer. She left a messily written note on her bed and made her way down the stairs to the front door. Just before she left she noticed her phone on the counter. She bit her lip and weighed her options. If she took it, it could help her find her way around and do so many other useful things but on the other had, it could help them find her sooner. Like it was just some game of hide-and-seek, like the ones she played with Yang and Qrow and her father when she was younger. Only this time she knew she couldn't give up and let herself be found until Yang was found first. So she left it behind. 

* * *

Ruby had taken a little over 4 hours to get to downtown, the sun sinking below the skyscrapers. She didn't have enough money for a motel room for the night. She supposed she didn't really think her plan all the way through before kicking it into action. It was far too late for her to turn back and head home to pick up a credit card or something. There really wasn't another option though. Unless she wanted to sleep at a bus stop or something gross and dangerous like that. Then again, this whole thing was dangerous, and people did this al the time didn't they? If she had her phone she could look up places that were safe in downtown Austin for somebody to spend the night. Every passing minute she began to doubt her choice to go out and find her sister. For the night, she found a way to hide in the bathroom of a local store.

Day two didn't go much better. She didn't know what direction to go, only which one to avoid. If she went far enough northeast, she would hit Bluestein Blvd and run the risk of being seen by Irene and her partner in the Juvey station. Obviously there was no turning around and going back home. Well, she could but she didn't know if she really truly wanted to give up quite yet. The trial had been testing, but not impossible to overcome. Yet.

She found a nice locally owned diner for breakfast. The diner was surprisingly empty for how late in the morning she had come in. A lone waitress perked up and greeted her, inviting her to sit up at the old fashioned counter. "Mornin' honey, what can I get for ya?" Ruby was almost too unnerved by the unconditional hospitality to actually order a simple breakfast of waffle's with bacon. "Where...where is everyone this morning?"

"It's Sunday. Most've em are at church. Cook included." The last part was muttered bitterly as the waitress turned to the well-used kitchen set behind the counter and started on Ruby's order. Her family had never really gone to church before. Her hands fidgeted as the waitress prepared her meal, making small talk all the while. The smell of intoxicatingly sweet syrup melting over freshly cooked waffle paired with the savory scent of frying fat filled the diner instead of conversation. "Here you go hon, fresh off the grill. Eat up." Ruby followed her command immediately. She had forgotten to stop for supper the night before and was actually much more hungry than she had thought.

"Slow down there, I'm not gonna take it from ya!" The waitress leaned against the counter and smiled warmly. Ruby felt like she could tell her anything, confide in her, ask her for anything. And without even thinking she did. "Do you know where the nearest harvest camp is?" The waitress seemed taken aback by the sudden blurt. "Sugar, we are in downtown Austin, Texas. The nearest harvest camp ain't for another 100 miles at the least." She saw Ruby visibly slouch. "Why do you wanna know?" Ruby began to sweat under her hoodie. Why  _would_ a normal kid doing normal kid things want to know something like that? 

"I'm, uh, I'm planning a school trip. My health class is.... really interested in the unwind process? And we wanted to see it, uh, first hand. But we need to find a nearby camp first, so we can ask for permission." She was lying through her teeth and fairly poorly too. The waitress however showed no signs of knowing. She looked confused, but not like she knew absolutely that this kid was a liar. "Well, it's not close but the best one in the area would prolly be Atlas Harvest Camp. Run themselves like the army down there. It's about an hour and a half west from here." Ruby mentally jotted that down for future reference. 

"Aren't you a bit young to be so interested in that sorta thing? What are you, in middle school? 8th grade?"

"I'm a junior, actually. I skipped a few grades 'cause I'm pretty smart, I guess!" 

"Uh huh." Ruby began to shake. All she could hope is that it wasn't noticeable. The waitress didn't say anything for a while, just took her glass and refilled it with ice cold milk. Ruby took a long swig of it to try and calm her nerves. 

"Kid, be honest with me. You an unwind?" The accusation was like an arrow to the heart. Ruby spluttered, wiping milk from her face. "N-No! I'm just a- It's just....." She sighed. "I'm not an unwind. Just a runaway...." Not that admitting that was any better. But if she was just a runaway they would send her home and not to a harvest camp. The waitress hummed. But surprisingly, she didn't do anything. Just went along with her business behind the counter. Cleaning dishes and scrubbing the grill. It was a little unsettling.

"Honey, y'know something?" Ruby perked up. The waitress turned and smiled at her. The smile was not the warm homely one she had sported earlier. "Your mommy shoulda told you not to trust strangers." Almost as if on queue, Ruby began to feel dizzy. The edges of her vision darkened and though she didn't feel it she could see that she was swaying slightly in her stool. "Wh-what did you- what's happeni-" Her jaw went numb before she had the chance to finish. 

The small girl in the bright red hoodie slumped agains the lunch counter, barely awake. The waitress moved to the landline mounted on the diner wall and dialed a number. After a few rings, they picked up.

"Yeah, it's me. Got another one down here for ya. She looks young, a little too trusting. Think this might be her-" Bits of the conversation faded out as Ruby's eyes slid shut. "Yeah I'll keep her until y'all get down here. Thank you." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love getting all of these sweet comments from u guys plus the kudos are also super awesome! Thank you all for this!


	5. Rules

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you want to stay whole, there are rules you must follow. Everyone knows this.  
> Everyone except her, apparently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *kicks in the door yelling* I'M ON SPRING BREAK!!!  
> But i still work late nights and I lowkey run out of inspiration half way though chapters so like who the fuck knows anymore am i right

**RULE 9: Never face the Juvies head on**

"What the hell is your problem?!" The blonde's face changed. That was certainly not the reaction she had been expecting from the girl whose life she had just saved. Only now that the tension had died down could Blake get a good look at her so-called "savior". She was a tall, busty blonde with hair tied up in a high ponytail. There was a nasty cut on her left shoulder that had coated her simple ensemble in blood. All in all, this girl looked like she had taken on three bears ally by herself and only managed to barely escape in time to take down the pursuing cop. Despite all this, she was smiling a blinding smile. It was a bit off putting. 

**RULE 11: Never pull a weapon of any kind on authorities.**

Blake watched as the blonde practically skipped over to the downed cop and began rifling through his pockets. She tugged his tranq gun free from his holster and popped the clip out. Blake had never seen someone do that so calmly. The blonde managed a straight face throughout the entire ordeal. A neutral expression as she stole his gun, replacing it with her now empty gun. They were nearly identical, and the man probably wouldn't even notice when he came too. Well, he would be more concerned with other things when he woke up. If he woke up. "So.... do we just like run now?" Blake was convinced that her head was actually filled with air. It was as if today was her first time ever being out in the world on her own. Actually, seeing as she had already broken two of the golden AWOL rules, that wasn't too far fetched.

"You're new, aren't you?" She gave her affirmation. Blake sighed and leaned against the trunk of a large tree. Of all the days to be stuck with a newbie. She needed to find out where the hell they had taken her and how to get back to the hideout as soon as possible. Plus there was the whole finding out where her partner had disappeared to. And the matter of the kids she had saved from the van earlier. Where had they run off to when she had told them to scatter? Did they make it out together or had the other Juvey uncuffed his partner and send him after them? There was just so many questions and things to resolve, and now she felt as if she had to get this girl to safety as well. 

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"What about you? Are you new?" The blonde walked over so she was face to face with Blake. "No...I'm not. I'm not even an unwi-" Before Blake could finish she felt two large hands clap onto her shoulder. Her first instinct was to yank herself free and start swinging. They were around the same height, she was clearly stockier than lanky ass Blake. If she wanted to fight her, she had little chance of truly winning. Blake could dodge and weave all she wanted but the second the blonde ox had her pinned she would be down for the count. So she held in the urge as best she could for now. The blonde kept testing her, though. She leaned in closer, as if she was closely observing every pore in her dark complexion. 

"You have got to help me!"

**RULE 14: Trust no one**

"I-I'm sorry? You want me to help you? I barely know you!" Blake wormed her way out of the other girl's grasp and began backing away. "But I shot that cop! I saved you!"

"You broke one of the rules! You don't even know what you're doing!" The blonde quirked her head. "Rules? What rules?" Of course she wouldn't know about the rules. Why would she? She had obviously just gotten into this whole running for your life thing and frankly she didn't seem all that good at it. She already had that nasty shoulder wound, and if she had been careful and following the rules then she wouldn't have gotten hurt. Well, not that badly anyways. Blake couldn't help but wonder what had happened to cause the injury in the first place. Not that she couldn't just ask, but how rude would it be to ask what happened and then leave her behind to die? 

The way it was looking, Blake had very few choices on the matter. And none of them really seemed to work out for her in the long run. However, she knew what she had to do. She inhaled deeply and squared her shoulders, as if the answer would physically pain her to speak. "I...will help you." The blonde visibly perked up and immediately surged forward, probably to hug her. Blake threw out her hands to stop her before contact could be made. "Hold it! I'll help you but only for a little bit! I'll show you the ropes and then it's up to you to get yourself to a safehouse or whatever you want to do."

"Oh. Uh, okay! Yeah, that sounds awesome!" Blake was unable to stop her a second time and found herself wrapped in a bone crushing hug that didn't seem physically possible. When Blake finally managed to free herself from it she found that she too was now covered in blood. The other girl seemed to notice this as well and sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Ooh. Sorry 'bout that." It was if she had just realized she had a big bleeding tear in her flesh. She pressed her hand to it and hissed slightly at the pain. Blake figured she could probably stitch it up for her if they had the time and the means. But for now she had a top priority. 

**RULE 10: The woods are not as safe as you think. You are more likely to be caught in the woods than in a large city.**

"Let's get out of here, okay?" There was a quiet groan from the downed officer. They hadn't been standing here that long, had they? He shouldn't have been coming to this soon. "We have to go immediately." Blake pivoted on her toes and began her trek out of the forest and back into the cul-de-sac. There was silence for a moment and then the loud rustle of hurried steps from behind her. "Wait up!" 

"Unofficial rule number 10 of the Stay Whole guidebook. The woods aren't as safe as you think. It's usually the first place that people will look for unwinds." She didn't bother turning around to make sure the girl was keeping up. "If you want to survive as an AWOL you have to live fast. Everything around you can change in seconds and you have to roll with the punches or get knocked out." The air grew silent once more. 

 _"She gave up before we even started. Figures._ " Blake thought bitterly. Suddenly there was a rush of air and the heavy weight of an arm hit her shoulder. Luckily for her pride she managed to recover from the surprise almost as quickly as it had come. "Don't worry about me, sweetheart. I live for fast." After years on her own, Blake had mastered the technique of keeping her emotional reactions on the inside. She casually brushed the girl's arm from her shoulder and kept moving. "Don't call me sweetheart. That's the next unofficial rule."

"Well then what should I call ya? You didn't give me your name." Normally she wouldn't throw her identity out there like that. Not when you lived a life where you couldn't trust anyone. Honestly she had no idea why she so easily blurted "You can call me Blake." in the woods that day. She had no clue why she felt like she could be open with the girl she had just met, the girl who was like a blind kitten that needed to be spoon fed the basic rules that she would need to survive. The girl who had shot a Juvey-cop for her. 

"Cool! M'name's Yang! It's nice to meetcha, Blake!" Once again that heavy arm settled on Blake's shoulder. She sighed. For whatever reason, she felt like this was just how the rest of their exchange was going to be until Yang was finally ready to take care of herself. The weird thing was, she didn't really mind it as much as she thought she would. 

They reached the forest mouth with good timing. The Juvey van was still parked in the circular street, but the back end had been emptied aside from the singular kid that they had to pick up. Blake had kind of forgotten about him. It was no use trying to free him now, the van was locked up tight and they didn't have the keys. The hardest part was watching him sadly watch them walk away. Poor kid must feel like just about everyone in the world had abandoned him, parents included. But there was nothing they could do to help him. Not now, at least. 

Another stroke of bad luck, they weren't able to find the other three children in the nearby neighborhoods. Though, through the magical world of her cellphone, Blake was able to search for the area they were currently in on the map. She determined that she was about a half an hour away from where she and her partner had originally split up. Unless they were to steal a car, they probably wouldn't make it back to the area before sundown, but Blake still didn't want to keep him waiting. "There's a bus stop near here that could take us a little ways, and then we could walk the rest." Yang pointed to the tiny bus stop on the digital screen. She was so close that she was practically pushing Blake over with her weight. Blake looked her up and down. They were both dirty and covered in blood. Unless they could convince everyone on a bus and in a vastly populated area that it was stage makeup, they would need a change of clothes and something to bandage Yang's shoulder for the time being.

Sometimes things happen to be on your side. "There's a Target near here, too. Wow, what a great little suburb. They have everything..." Yang muttered, a bit of sarcasm in her tone. Blake wondered if she had grown up in the area, or if she was from a similar one. Not many unwinds came from places like these, but there were cases. Going to Target would solve the change of clothing issue, and she was starting to form a plan for the bandage. "Yang, could you come here really quick?" The blonde obeyed, albeit a bit curiously. When she got closer, Blake grabbed the orange material of her tank top and pulled her even closer. It might have been her imagination, but she could have sworn she saw a light blush on her cheeks. Then without warning, Blake tore the material right off of the source. 

"Hey!" Yang scurried back, only aiding in Blake's surprise makeover. Her tank top was now a poorly hemmed crop top. "Take off your jacket."

"Why, so you can tear that up, too? Is one of the rules to look as grungy as possible?!"

"Keep your voice down and take off your jacket. I'm trying to help you." With much reluctance, Yang shrugged off her jacket. The wound wasn't as bad as it had been upon receiving it. The bleeding had almost stopped, and it would need deep cleaning and stitching if and when they got back to the base. For now, Blake simply wrapped the torn tank top fabric around it and fastened it tightly. "There. Better?" Yang tested the bandage, moving her arm and shoulder in slow circles. It stuck tight. "...yeah. Better. Thanks, B."

"You're welcome, you big baby."

**Rule 2: **Stay away from highly populated areas** **

The walk to Target was easy. Blake convinced Yang to turn her jacket inside out and tie it around her waist so no one would see the blood stains and had ditched her partner's hoodie in a trash bin on the way there. She would make it up to him later. The local Target was much busier than expected. Easter wasn't any time soon, but plenty of suburban mothers had bravely faced the wild store to pick up everything from egg dye to candy to stash away until the day finally came. "Ah, another day at Tar-jay." 

"I'm sorry, what did you call it?" Blake was already tense being in such a crowded place with really only one clear exit. She didn't have time to deal with shenanigans. 

"Tar-jay. My dad used to call it that when we came here. For a while I just thought that was how it was pronounced." She shrugged, groaning slightly at the pain it sparked. The dark skinned girl rolled her eyes. "Let's just get what we came here for."

The women's clothing section was closer to the middle of the store. Target had come through in providing good looking clothing that would last a long time for a moderate price. The whole aura of the store was incredibly pleasant. Blake supposed if she ever got married, she would have it at a Target. Or she would but items from the stores on her registry, at the very least. On the other end of the spectrum, Yang was dead set on having a funeral here. "Not mine. Just someone's funeral. The white and red would be super soothing for the grievers."

"I fail to see the correlation." 

**Rule 16: Do not let your guard down.**

It was easy to get lost in the racks of clothing. The texture of each individual fabric, the different weights and designs of the textiles. Yang had been right, in a way. The aura of the store was incredibly soothing once you got used to it. Blake even found a nice hoodie to replace to one she had thrown away. If he didn't care that it was from the women's section. Ah he probably wouldn't care. Probably.

She had turned her back for two minutes. She had no clue how it could end up like this. She looked up from the rack and noticed a distinct lack of a certain blonde. Her nerves skyrocketed. "Yang?" How could she let her wander off? How could a nearly grown up woman wander away without telling her like a child? She actually had to fight the temptation to look under the racks to see if she was hiding there. She was going to give that girl such a stern talking to when she found her. If she found her. How could she have let herself relax to this point? 

There was a sudden tap on her shoulder. Blake started and wheeled around, ready to either throw hands or run. She was met with probably one of the worst sights she had seen in a long time. 

"Ta da!!!" Yang threw out her arms like she had just crossed the finish line of a marathon. She had carefully placed four pairs of sunglasses on top of her head, starting on her eyes and moving up to the final pair which rested on her ponytail. Blake had never felt this tired in such a short amount of time. "I...." She sighed heavily. "You walked away from me and gave me a heart attack because of a joke?" She gave Yang a rough shove. "We don't have the luxury to mess around like this. We can't let our guard down."

"Then why did I sneak up on you so easy?" If Blake was a cat her hackles would be raised. While she technically had broken one of the unwritten rules, she wholeheartedly blamed the store. Curse you, Tar-jay. You and your soothing aura.

**Rule 7: If spending money is necessary, never use the same form of payment twice or more in a row. (cash, debit card, credit, etc.) Shoplifting is also an option but it is much easier to be caught this way.**

The grandeur of the store began to wear on the two of them after a while and they made quick work of choosing their new clothing. Blake had selected something simple, easy to move in. Black jeans and a white t-shirt, covered with a light grey coat with a hem that reached her upper thighs and a dark purple scarf. The scarf was unnecessary, but it had caught her eye and she had really really liked it. If the situation called for it she could ditch it, or even use it against her attacker. The material was thick enough to whip at someone, but not enough to really hurt.

Yang had gone with a completely different route. She had found another orange shirt, but this one had a little sequined bee that had buzzed itself a small loopy pattern on the material. It looked like she had pulled it from the children's section instead of the women's. She had insisted on keeping her baggy navy green pants with a similar patch on the knee, but Blake managed to talk her into a new jacket since the one she had was stained with blood which would draw attention to them.  This one was black with a yellow flame on the back. It was....actually kind of fitting. 

Now came the real nerve wracking part. They had to take all of their things up front to pay. "Why don't we just...steal it?" Yang whispered. She had moved closer than ever before to make sure that no one heard her query besides Blake. A suburban mother with a questionable haircut did shoot them the evil eye, but she probably assumed something entirely different about the question's nature. Blake shot her a glare right back.

"We can't. If we get caught they'll call the police. Then we would have to explain why they couldn't have us call our parents to come get us at the station and they would ship us off to Atlas toute de suite." Yang cocked her head in confusion. "The French phrase meaning 'all at once'? Y'know, right away. And judging by how hard you begged me to teach you to survive, you don't want that, do you?"

"I did NOT beg you!" The banter continued all the way up to the cash register, where they waited in a relatively short line. During the wait Blake went over her last few trips to the store in her head. _I went to a CVS last month to get some more pads for a safehouse and I paid in....cash? No no, debit. That's right, I used his card. So this time I'll pay with-_

"Next, please." She set their items down and fished for her wallet. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the total. What would she do they they didn't have enough?She reviewed their items, mentally noting what they wouldn't need. It was still cold mid-March, so they needed those jackets. Both of their shirts were covered in blood so the absolutely need to keep those. She could ditch the pants but her old ones were so ratty that they were bound to come apart any day now. In the end, they had cut it close. They only received about a dollar back in change. Yang managed to keep a celebratory whoop in until they left the store and found a place to change.

A coffee shop. Yang changed and cleaned up first, and Blake kept watch. She supposed that if they wanted to they could probably buy something to drink, just to get any awkward attention off of their backs. While deep in her thoughts she distantly heard the ring of the bell above the shop door ringing. She glanced over, vaguely noticing a familiar color scheme. It took her brain a moment to register just how afraid she should be. She recognized that color scheme. She knew it all to well. She had been roughly grabbed and tossed into the back of a van by two men wearing that exact same outfit. 

**Rule 1: Do not get caught**

"What the hell is a cop doing here?" She muttered to herself. She busied herself with something small, pretending to fish through her bag for a laptop or a phone charger. Footsteps behind her signalled Yang's return and she immediately heard the girl gasp softly. There was a tug on her arm and she casually pushed herself away from the table and stood. "We have to go." They spoke in unison. Good. They both recognized the gravity of the situation. "Let's just keep our heads down and leave like normal customers."

"No! We can't do that. We'll have to sneak out the back or the bathroom or something." 

"What? Why?" Why would she want to make this more complicated. It had only been an hour or so, they would still be combing the woods and near the highway for her and the safest bet would to not make a scene and draw attention to themselves. "We can't go out the front or he'll see me." 

"He'll see you if you try and sneak out and get caught, too."

"Yeah but I really can't let him see me!" Yang grabbed Blake and all but dragged her to the bathroom, where she locked the door before bracing herself against it. "Yang, what the hell is going on? You'll be fine if you just do as I say!" The blonde furiously shook her head. 

"I don't know how, but they found me. That's the only explanation!"

"Who found you? Yang you aren't making any sense."

"That man out there is my uncle."

Oh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *aaron burr voice* why do you write like you're running out of time????????????????????????????????????????  
> Also here's a general timeline of events
> 
> The end of ch 1+ the end of ch 2 + the beginning of ch 3+ the beginning of ch 4 all take place on the same day  
> The end of ch 4 takes place a week later  
> The end of ch 3 takes place a week after ch 4
> 
> Who should I focus on next? Bumbleby, Weiss, Ruby, or someone new?


	6. Wonder/Wander

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She wondered if they'd make it  
> Her mind was wandering  
> She wondered where she had ended up this time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  
> it took me forever to come up with a chapter title and a chapter naming theme but i think i got it. You're gonna have to crack it though.

_THUMP_

Boredom was common down here. More common than the meager meals received twice a day (three times on holidays). More common than the stench of mildew or the sound of a drip somewhere down in the mess of pipes. More common than complaints about those things.

_THUMP_

There were about 6 of them down here. For now. Sometimes the woman upstairs would open the hatch and tell two or three of them to come with her and they were never seen again. Sometimes when the hatch opened and a new face would appear. But that was happening less and less these days.

_THUMP_

The red rubber ball was the only thing keeping him occupied. He threw it at the far wall and it bounced back to him. Repeat. Sometimes the others would join in, but they would get shut up before they got too loud. The woman upstairs had told them upon arrival that if they made too much noise they were out of here. No one knew exactly where you went if you were kicked out. 

_THUMP_

"Jaune. Please." The voice was stern and solid. "I'm trying to read." There was the rustling of a page turn to emphasize the point. Jaune let the ball roll from his hands across the cement floor. "Thank you." Silence was even worse than the constant thump of rubber on brick. Ren liked reading, Nora liked being close to Ren. Jaune hadn't met anyone that he felt close enough to be content like that in his time here. The other three kids were in the same boat. All they could do was wait for time to pass until the hatch opened once more. 

As luck would have it, that time came sooner than later. An hour of silence went by before it creaked open, but everyone in the cellar tensed up at the sound immediately. They were all holding there breath. They all knew the options. Nora moved closer to Ren, lacing their fingers together. The two of them had been together for their entire lives, so it was unlikely that they two of them would be split up if it was an extraction and not an addition. His palms began to sweat at the thought of it being his turn to leave. None of them dared to look at the stairs as heavy footsteps clunked down towards them. "Alright, just set her down somewhere." 

Jaune was going to risk it. He turned to see the man who had brought him here in the first place. Not a particularly large man, much stronger than he looked. He was carrying a small girl clad in a big red hoodie who was absolutely limp. She looked like a tiny corpse. "Be sure to tell Darlene thank you when you see her next." The woman at the top of the stairs called down. The man nodded sternly and deposited the girl on an open patch of cement. He was surprisingly gentle with the maneuver, supporting her head so it wouldn't bang against the ground. Then he clunked back up the stairs and he was gone. 

Jaune stared at the black haired girl. Just like the rest of them, she had a life before this. Jaune wondered where she had come from, why she left it, and how she had ended up here. 

Little did he know, she would wonder the same things when she woke up.

* * *

Blake was a quick thinker in most situations. It was one of her best qualities and it had gotten both her and her partner out of plenty of situations. But right now she couldn't get that big old brain of hers to work. The clock was ticking, it was only a matter of time before someone else in the shop needed the bathroom. If they bolted it would draw suspicion and the cop would chase after them. If he saw Yang he would recognize her and then he would chase after them. All of their stuff was still on the table outside so they couldn't just sneak out the back door or the tiny bathroom window. 

"Blake, stop pacing. You're starting to freak me out." 

"You should be freaked out! You're related to a Juvey, Yang. Why didn't it occur to you that he would be more inclined to find you?" The blonde shrugged. "I mean I figured he would be with Ruby or Dad or something. It's been about an hour or two-"

"That just means they would just want to find you more! You crashed a car and shot a cop!" She was struggling to keep her voice down. The mellow tunes the coffee shop had on their Spotify wouldn't cover up angry yelling. "What were we thinking coming here. Target was enough of a risk. He's going to kill me if he finds out..."

"He who?" Blake shook her head. Her partner wasn't the focus right now, so she didn't mention him. "Uh..." Dark fingers absently twisted into the soft material of her new scarf. And that's when it hit her. "Take out your ponytail."

Yang had developed a bit of a habit. When Blake asked her to do something, she usually lost something. Example: her old tank top. So it was no shock that she was reluctant to to let the other girl anywhere near her hair. Yet she did it anyways, flinching slightly when she began weaving her fingers into the thick blonde mess. "Please tell me what you're doing so I can chill out a little." 

"I'm gonna put it in a bun. It'll be tight so don't scream, okay?" It took all of her will power not to shriek at the hard yank that Blake had promised. "Why are you doing this to me? I thought we were just starting to be friends!"

"Stop whining. Rule number who cares: Change your appearance. It makes it easier to avoid the cops you escaped from." She finished off the bun with a few rough twists and secured it with the ponytail holder. Yang bit back a yelp. 

"Or the ones you're related to." She removed her new scarf and tied it around Yang's head like a bandanna. "Okay, now switch coats with me." There was some awkward shuffling between the two. Blake's coat fit Yang just fine, the hem falling just a bit higher on her legs than it did on Blake. Blake on the other hand... 

Both girls were strong. But Yang's arms were more muscular than Blake's and a bit longer. Blake balled her hand into a fist at the realization that the sleeves covered her hands and made her look small. Being small in her business was no good. "You look like a little kitten, though!" Yang's reassurances had no effect on her. Instead she relayed a hastily crafted plan to the anxious blonde. Blake peeked out, checking to see if he was still there. He was. Seated at the table near the large window at the front of the shop, reading the newspaper. A barista came over and set a large cup in front of him. He smiled and winked at her, and she laughed. 

"Your uncle is flirting with the barista."

"Good, he's distracted." Yang slipped past Blake and back out into the shop. She made a beeline for the table, scooped up Blake's wallet, and then headed stiffly for the counter. Blake waited as time dripped by and Yang pretended to order whatever kind of coffee related drink she craved. It was a miracle that no queue had formed behind her. If there was something you could possibly ask about a medium sized vanilla bean latte, she was asking it and expecting an answer. While Yang wasted time at the counter, Blake did the opposite. She quickly finished cleaning up and changing into her new outfit, then returned to the table to collect their things. Her mind was whipping up a storm of anxiety and her hands were shaking ever so slightly, but her eyes remained calm. She had worked for years to remain calm on the outside while everything was inside ripped to shreds.

Calm yellow met frantic purple from across the shop. A slight nod towards the door. Yang hands the barista the card and the barista came back with her drink a few minutes later. "Thanks." Her voice is barely above a mutter, and it's low and gravely, unlike her normal speaking voice. A glance over to the cop reveals that, yes, he is still lowkey flirting with the barista who brought him his drink. The perfect window was wide open and all they had to do was jump. 

Blake took the first leap. She practically marched over to Yang and grabbed her hand, lacing. their fingers together. "Got your coffee?" She even smiled for good measure. She just hoped the other girl got the message. "Yeah, babe. Let's go." The two walked in tandem. They even walked with their heads close, mostly to avoid making eye contact with her uncle, but also to give off that "obnoxious-couple-that-can't-get-enough-of-each-other" vibe. It seemed to work. Most of the stares they received were those of disdain often followed by an eyeroll. As they reached the door Yang took a big swig of her coffee, effectively covering the lower half of her face with the cup. 

Blake could feel sweat beading on her temple. Her hand touched the cool glass door and the bell above it chimed as it opened. Every sense seemed muted and numb, even the brisk March air on her skin as the finally exited the shop. They kept walking, keeping up the relationship facade. "I don't hear anyone behind us." Yang spared a quick glance behind them. "You're right. We're good." Blake couldn't believe it, it seemed like they had made it out completely clean. She tugged Yang's arm, pulling them into a nearby alley. "We'll just cut through here and head back to my ba-"

"Back to your what?" An unfamiliar voice chimed in from behind them.

_No freaking way._

* * *

Weiss' mind had been wandered quite a bit these past few days. Every so often she would have to leave the safe confines of her room and force herself to act like there wasn't an escaped boy marked for unwinding hiding in her bedroom. It has probably pure luck that he had happened upon America's least communicative family. No one ever asked why she had suddenly chosen to spend all of her waking hours hidden away from the world, they only cared that she showed up for her scheduled fencing lessons or afternoon tea. The Schnee children were all homeschooled so she never really had to leave the mansion. And even a lavish room with a four poster canopied bed and a walk in closet could become dull after a while.

So she devoted the free time doing charity work.

Technically. If charity work could be defined as teaching Sun a new, uselessly long word each day. "Defenstration. D-E-F-E-N-S-T-R-A-T-I-O-N. The act of throwing someone out of a window. Example: Death by defenstration." Sun squinted at her. "You would never use this word in conversation." A look of anger crossed her pale face. "You would!" Sun had to contain the boisterous laugh bubbling in his throat. "I would never use any of these words! No one I know would!"

A mean thought crossed her mind. These sorts of thoughts had been much more frequent in the past week. Thoughts like:  _"Not surprising. You lowlifes aren't good for much of anything, let alone conversation."_ When they popped up she would push them back down and ignore the mild hatred she had for both the strange boy and herself. Every time a thought came to light she would push it down with questions of her own willpower. Why had she just agreed to let him into her home? The home right next to the most infamous harvest camp in the country. It would take one word at tea time to her father or even a butler to have him removed from her room and unwound before supper. Her fist clenched tightly. 

"I'm about to defenstrate you." The name "Sun" suddenly made sense. His features seemed to glow with happiness. "Hey, there ya go!" He gave her a hard slap on the back. She retaliated with a harsh SHHH! "Keep your voice down. You will be caught and there's nothing I can do if that happens." The sun died out almost as soon as it began to shine. A muttered apology passed his lips. "Let's get back to studying, then."

When night fell, it had been nearly impossible to arrange where Sun would sleep. He couldn't leave the room, that would be stupid. He had suggested sharing her bed with her, seeing as it was positively huge, but she had refused to. "I can't have a BOY in my bed! It's obscene!"

"Why? We don't even know each other."

"That's why it's obscene!"

When Weiss was a child, she had a surplus of those oversized, overstuffed stuffed animal companions. She would often have tea parties with them and when she outgrew them she couldn't bear to give them away. So they had piled up in the far corner of her closet. In hindsight, she shouldn't have been so clingy with them. But in their moment of need, the outrageously large pile of outrageously large stuffed animals made for a pretty comfy makeshift bed. It was almost easy to forget about the AWOL when he was stuffed away in her closet like an embarrassing secret. It was easy to forget the disobedience and how her father would react if he found out.

Her mind wandered far more than it ever had. She found herself thinking of all the possibilities and how they would result in her punishment and Sun's unwinding. She had taken all sorts of cautionary measures to make sure neither of those things happened. It was easy to cut herself off from her family, less easy to avoid allowing Klein into her bedroom. She would order food to be sent to her room instead of joining them in the dining hall and shared half of it with Sun.

Besides the staff, the only one who seemed to notice her absence was, strangely enough, Whitley. He approached her right after her fencing lesson about a week after she had invited Sun into their home. "Sister dear. It seems like I haven't seen you in ages! Still reeling from the attack?" Weiss hadn't the faintest idea why the young boy had not only been unaffected by the clapper blowing himself up in their backyard, but kept mentioning it in conversation. "I'm fine, Whitley. I've...just been needing some alone time."

"What do you do in your alone time?" She wanted to slap that smug expression right off of his face. "If I wanted you to know I would invite you to join me. Excuse me." She tried to move past him to replace her rapier in it's case but he blocked her. He tutted, as if he was condescendingly talking to a small child. "Dear, dear sister. Don't you think I know you better than that?" She shrugged him off. "I think you're hiding something." Weiss reminded externally cold. She had perfected that over the years. Whitley laid a hand on her shoulder, not unlike their father. "You can trust me. I'm your brother."

"That makes me want to trust you less." In her mind she was going over all of the things that could happen if she had let her secret slip out and told her little brother about the boy in her closet. 

He would go to their father first. He always ran to him whenever something happened. If it could be handled with a stern talking to, he would handle it. If not, he would force one of their staff members to clean it up before he got to it. And if it was really messy, Whitley would take a long walk down the driveway and over to Atlas. He would do his best to avoid being mistaken for a tithe (that had been an interesting day) and Winter's watchful gaze as he made his way to Ironwood's office. Once there he would report them and they would storm the manor in a heartbeat. She would be lucky as hell if her father didn't let them haul her away and unwind her too. An example. The Schnee family was tough and they would not have a weak link in their industry chain. 

"Weiss." His voice calls her wandering mind back. "You can trust me. You always can." The smile he gives her is so forced it's laughable. Fake. Like everything else in the family. "Sorry. Maybe later." She packed away her rapier and went back to her room. She could feel his eyes glaring holes into her back as she left. She had to be much more careful. She had a feeling he wouldn't give up on finding out her secret so easily.

* * *

 

Ruby was scared. That was an understatement.The last thing she remembered was a woman looming over her, feeding her poisoned milk and waffles and cackling as she passed out. That was probably an overstatement. Though to her knowledge, that was exactly what had happened to her. Though her memory was still fuzzy from hitting it so hard on the counter top. Waking up in a strange place with no idea how she had gotten there certainly didn't help.

There were six children in the room. All of them were isolating her, it seemed. No one would come close, but they all stared at her. Were they judging her? Sizing her up? She wondered if they were AWOL unwinds, or runaways like she was. Did they get fed drugged food by a smiling waitress with a lovely drawl, or were they all leagues smarter than she was? Though she did doubt that a little. 

It felt like she had sat curled in a ball silently for hours. Eventually attention turned away from her and they all went back to waiting or reading. They probably assumed that she knew what was happening to her. She didn't even know if it was even the same day anymore, let alone where the waitress had sent her. There was one boy who refused to turn away from her. A spindly looking blond with determined blue eyes. In fact, like those creepy statues on a show that Yang liked, he seemed to move closer whenever she looked away or let her eyes close for longer than a second. He's wearing a shabby old Pumpkin Pete's hoodie, the one that they released with the box top sweepstakes. It looked a bit small on him now, which made sense. The contest was last held about 4 years ago. 

Her little fingers nervously drummed on the cold concrete floor. She had no idea to react to this boy coming closer. Ruby had never really talked to boys much back at school. It was an embarrassing but true fact. Most boys in her grade weren't interested in the quiet girl who skipped two grades because she was too smart for her own class. Even if he was genuinely nice, she would still be too nervous to hold a proper conversation with him. He had moved closer, now only about 6 or 7 feet away. He had either synced up his blinking pattern with hers, or he had refrained from blinking. She didn't know which was creepier.

He had come even closer now, so close to closing the gap between them and being a good distance to her to start a conversation. But before he could the hatch opened. "Dinner time." A female voice called down quietly. The remaining kids pulled themselves to their feet and padded towards the woman who had made her way down into the area. Her hypothesis that they had been thrown into a cellar was pretty spot on. The boy looked at the woman and then back at Ruby. "I'll grab you one. Don't worry." The woman was handing out brown paper bags and bottles of water. The blond, true to his word, grabbed two bags. He gently tossed them to her, she managed to catch the bag but the bottle flipped onto the ground next to her. "Th-thank you." 

The woman cleared her throat. "Alright. As you know, there are 7 of you now. The house is getting a bit crowded and we're going to have to start finding other arrangements." The air in the room was suddenly tenser than before. Ruby was afraid to find out why.

* * *

"This is absolute bullshit! How did you follow without us noticing?"

"I'm a professional, sweetheart." Qrow was blocking the alley's entrance. Yang was turning red from anger and possible embarrassment. She had set the record for the world's worst AWOL ever. Caught after only 3 hours, and by her uncle no less. Blake had moved even closer to her, squeezing her hand with vigor. She was clearly trying to think of a way to get out of this again. The poor girl had to be exhausted. They had so many close calls and it hadn't even been a day. Yang felt like she had to keep her safe, but she knew that she didn't need it from her. 

"I would have found you sooner, if you hadn't wrecked my car." 

"You're the one who told me to ta-" He held a finger to his lips and then pointed to his walkie. Then, he flicked the switch off. Yang understood. She wasn't sure how she had gotten the hint so fast. "You're not with them." Blake turned to her with a confused look in her eyes. "You're gonna let us go."

"You are your mother's daughter, Y. Smarter than they all think." Qrow had made sure he had found his niece first. Because he knew that if anyone else did they would catch her. That would defeat the whole purpose of letting Tai use his squad car and "forgetting" where he had left his tranq gun. "B, it's okay. He's on our side." She whispered. The other girl relaxed, but only slightly. Yang had a feeling that Blake hadn't been truly relaxed in a long time. She wondered how long the girl had been this tense, how many years of just surviving had strung her so tight. Wondered how long it would be before she became this stressed.

"Now, there's still some things you need to know. You two are free to go as long as you see me. No other cops are in on this business. So don't go wandering the streets of Austin like you're hot shit. Behavior like that'll get you tossed face first into a van." Blake flushed. She knew that all to well. 

"You." He pointed to Blake. "You know what you're doing. Obviously been around this block a few times. I trust you know the way to Beacon?" Blake nodded. Qrow looked impressed. "Get into the safehouse system and find your way to Beacon. Avoid parts pirates, cops, blah blah blah. You know the drill. Teach  _her_ the drill and keep yourselves alive for another few months. Then give me a call."

A slurry of new questions were forming in Yang's head. How did her uncle form this plan on such short notice? She had only been AWOL for hours and they had only known she was a candidate for unwinding a few days ago. Did he learn about it before she did? Did he know she would be willing to tranquilize her own father for even one more day of living a free life? If so, how? Was she showing those sorts of vibes? And most importantly....

What the hell was Beacon, and how Blake know about it?

 


	7. Brilliance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was the best of the best  
> Their project was coming together nicely.  
> Her plan was brilliant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *dabs* lol do I even know what im doing?

"I'm afraid the injury, while not permanent, will affect you for the rest of your life. I'm sorry, Miss Ward. I don't think you'll ever be able to compete again."

Despite the crushingly bad news, Pyrrha smiled. There had been an accident at the high school track meet. While Pyrrha was going to collect her javelin, another competitor had misheard the instructions and launched their own into the field. It had hit her. "I've never seen someone so calm while having a sharp object removed." A nurse had remarked. "These things happen all the time. I'm sure it will be fine." Another told her. 

The javelin had torn right through her Achilles tendon. Even as they loaded her onto the ambulance, the other kid had been wailing his apologies. She had smiled and told him not to worry. She even wished him good luck for the rest of the day. Though, she doubted that the track meet had kept going on smoothly. She wouldn't be surprised if the Staho housemother told her that they had cancelled the whole thing. If she ever came at all. There were hundreds of other children in the home that needed watching, she couldn't expect the one woman that kept them all in line to drop everything and come and get her. Besides, Pyrrha was a big girl now, almost 17. The only problem would be getting home, but she supposed the bus could take her close enough. If they let her leave tonight.

In the end, they didn't. But the hospital staff was so polite to her, and she returned the courtesy. The next morning, a kind nurse helped her change back into her clothing (excluding the pants that they had to cut away to help her) and walked her down to the bus stop. "Remember, Miss Ward. Take it easy on your ankle and feel free to contact Doctor Free if you need anything at all."

"Thank you. It was an honor to be taken care of by such kind people." The nurse laughed and the two of them exchanged hugs. It was probably the last pleasant moment she would have in a while.

The State Home had been her home since early childhood. Her parents had passed away and she became a ward of the state, earning her the shared last name that everyone in the program had. Since she lived in one of the many Austin Stahos, they never had to deal with overcrowding like some smaller towns did. At least, it wasn't a problem until recently. The outlawing of abortions had led to thousands of children being storked, that was nothing new. But for some reason, more and more storkings were happening in the past year and the Staho was taking in more and more unwanted babies. Then they started experiencing budget cuts. Older kids were being sent off to harvest camps for the littlest of things. A bad grade on a test, came home even a few minutes after curfew. Many kids had honed their skills in whatever they could. Music, writing, art, sports. If you were good at something that could bring money back, you got to stay.

Pyrrha was good at many things. They called her things like the Invincible Girl, the 8th wonder of the world. She was the best distance runner, the best at shot put and javelin throws and high jumps. She had scholarships lined up for every school in the area. Her side of the room she shared with three other girls was line with medals and awards from each meet she had participated in since middle school. The housemother had insisted on keeping any trophies for herself and sat them on the mantle so whenever potential donors or adopting parents came through they would see the kinds of achievements the kids in this home had made. 

But all that was over now. Doctor Free had told her himself that she would never be able to do anything as well as she used to. She could still throw the javelin but she couldn't jump or sprint. For a few days, everything seemed normal. Little kids signed her cast, the ones her age made jokes about how calm and well mannered she had been, even with a literal javelin sticking out of her leg. They even had a barbeque, hotdogs and hamburgers, to celebrate her recovery. It was so painfully normal, she should have seen it coming. It was always painfully normal before a thinning. 

The housemother called her into her office. "Pyrrha. Sweet, sweet Pyrrha. Do you have any idea how proud we all were of you?" The use of the past tense was the first clue to her fate."It was a shame what happened, and we are all truly saddened by it."

"Don't worry about it, Madam. There was really no way to avoid it." The housemother quirked her lip. This was the second clue. "Yes... anyhow. I'm sure you know the policy we hold at this home?" Pyrrha nodded slowly. Every Ward had memorized Staho policy by their first year in the system. "So you are....aware of what we have to do." She nodded once more. "Of course, you still have a few months. They can't take you with the cast."

"Right." 

"Thank you for understanding. We'll let you know. It really is just so sad. One little injury and your whole life is over." Pyrrha nodded and pulled herself to her feet. 

The injury would heal. She might not be able play as hard as she used to ever again, but it would heal. She would have gotten better. The injury hadn't ended her life. Sending her away to be unwound because of it had.

For a long while, her roommates tried to comfort her.

"It'll be alright. At least you know you'll be helping someone."

"None of us could have seen this coming. There was nothing you could have done to stop it from happening."

"Pyrrha, you were brilliant."

Pyrrha didn't want to die a legend with a brilliant past to put her on a pedestal. She wanted to live.

She was the best of the best. But she wanted to live normally. And now it seemed that it was too late.

* * *

"Have you found her yet?" Adam growled. Two masked teens bristled. "W-We found a signal. She sent a text saying she got caught about an hour or two ago. We were able to track it from there and she's around the suburbs in the Austin area. But she could be on the move."

"Keep her in your sights. I don't want to lose her again." The two nodded furiously. "I have a meeting with her again."

"We'll keep you posted, Adam." The redhead adjusted his mask and secured his sword at his hip.

He was satisfied to know that he was closing in on her. This time he wouldn't lose her. 

* * *

The hurried click of heels on linoleum filled the corridor. The young nurse nearly dropped a few of the files she was transporting. "Ironwood! Ironwood!" The office door flung open and the General turned to see the flustered face of his favorite nurse. "Schnee. Come in, have a seat."

"No time, General. I'm afraid they need you in the lad immediately." James pursed his lips. "Thank you. I'll be right down. Are those files for me?" Winter had finally caught her breath and straightened herself back to her usual proper self. "Yessir. They are all the information you requested on the procedure. There are even some handwritten notes on the bottom." 

"Thank you. Put them on my desk and meet me down in the lab. You should be there when history is made." 

"Yessir." She pushed past him into his office and he smiled at her softly. He remembered her first visit to Atlas as a child. How fascinated yet terrified she had been of the unruly teens that filled their courtyard. How the young girl had wanted to help them in any way she could. Now here she was, doing exactly as she had dreamed. She truly did deserve to see what her hard work under him had helped to accomplish.

The courtyard was bustling. They had postponed all unwindings until further notice and each and every teenager felt a wave of relief wash over them. They didn't know why, and they frankly didn't care why. As long as their parts stayed in one piece, they were satisfied. Security, naturally, had been upped for the foreseeable future. Ironwood ran the facility under the assumption that if they weren't being unwound, the teens were planning a riot. After nearly 30 years, they hadn't had a single incident. He didn't plan on one occurring anytime soon. Unless of course, you counted the radical teens who often tried to storm the neighboring manor. But no one had ever made it over the fence. They were often subdued and unwound in a timely manner. Just like everything else at Atlas. 

After a short elevator ride he was at his destination. Several doctors rushed from the operating table to the boxes that held various parts and pieces. A nurse frequently checked and replaced the blood bags, and another nurse simply sat by the table and spoke softly. To an outsider, they looked frantic. To anyone who had seen the day to day work that went on inside these rooms, it looked like just another routine unwinding. But this was nothing like a routine unwinding. 

"General. So glad you could make it." The nurse by the table said. Her voice was barely above a whisper, and she hadn't lifted her head when he entered. The doctors didn't cease their work, but all of them took a second to acknowledge their boss. "How is it progressing?"

"Well, sir."

"Do we have a bpm?"

"Yes. But it is infrequent and hard for us to maintain. We might not be able to-" He was distracted by a sharp cry. All attention turned to the operating table, where blood was beginning to pool where a foot would have been. "Not to jinx you, but it looks like you might have succeeded. For the time being." The doctor grabbed her limp wrist, patiently waiting for the pulse to pass through it. His eyes went wide. "You must have a charm on you sir. Once you got here, the bpm skyrocketed! It's almost like it's-"

"It's not a charm." Winter cut in. She had been standing in the door in awe at their work. "It's just mere luck. Our General is one of the luckiest."

"Miss Schnee. Glad to see you could make it. If you would, please join me in the viewing room. I'm sure the surgeons have a lot to work on without our interference." The white haired nurse nodded and followed him into a nearby room. The room often housed diplomats who liked to know exactly where their parts came from before they went under for transplant. A two way mirror allowed them to look in on the operation without the doctors being distracted by the observers. Now General Ironwood sat in rapture, watching them bring the project he had spent nearly 20 years of his life on together piece by piece.

"It's all coming together quite nicely."

"Indeed they are, Schnee. Indeed they are.This will be the most brilliant thing to come out of Atlas."

* * *

"You're late." The voice hissed from the front of the darkened room. The red haired man flinched. He could practically feel her burning holes in him with her mind, even though she had yet to turn around and face him. 

"So sorry, Cindy. You know me, always trying to make the most of daylight." He smiled, comically large cigar dropping a few ashes onto the floor. "There is no excuse for disobedience, Torchwick." Cinder's dark skinned henchgirl dragged her fingertip along the edge of a blade, trying her best to break through her soft feminine features to look intimidating. 

"Edgy. Anyways, I'm sure there's a reason you pulled me away from my work? I'm a very busy man, you know." 

"Yes. Have a seat." He obeyed. His boss turned sharply, her heels clacking against the cement floor as she stalked closer. "Business is down. It's been weeks and we've only brought in, what? Ten AWOLS?" Roman took a drag from his cigar. "What can I say? The juvies are cracking down. If they do their jobs right I can't do mine to the fullest. That, or parents just aren't unwinding their kids anymore." Cinder glared down at him. "Haven't you heard? There's a new movement sweeping the nation! Parents are realizing that they can work out their problems with compassion and therapy."

"Huh. Cop outs." The silver haired henchboy shifted in his seat, heavy boots dragging a few papers across the metallic table surface. Cinder turned her glare on him and he zipped his lips. "I'm not saying you have to start snatching kids out of the backs of vans, Roman." She slammed her hand down onto the table in front of him. In her hand was a list with seemingly random names and addresses. "Take this. To my knowledge, these safe houses lead directly to the mother load of AWOLs fresh for the taking."

"You don't mean-"

"I do. Emerald. Mercury." The teens perked up. "Take this list and go with Mr. Torchwick. It seems that he and Miss Politan can no longer work unsupervised. The henchmen rose to their feet and flanked the red haired man. "Infiltrate the system and ride it all the way to Beacon. You know what to do when you get there."

"Yes Cinder."

"Thank you. No be on your way. Destiny waits for no one." The trio left her alone in the darkened room and she smiled. Soon her brilliant plan would come to light and the underground world of AWOLS and runaways would tremble at the sound of her name. "Cinder Fall: Notorious parts pirate. Has quiet the ring to it." The door behind her opened once more.  _Of course,_ she thought,  _even the best of the best need a little outside assistance._

"You called for me?"

"Adam. I hear you and I have some.... similar interests. Please, have a seat."

* * *

 

Qrow had slipped them enough money to catch a bus to downtown Austin. Blake had insisted that they really didn't need it but he had insisted right back. So here they were, side by side on an all too quiet bus back into the city. Blake's fingers drummed against her leg anxiously as they rode. The other hand held her cellphone, which she stared at with the intensity of ten suns. "You got any games on your phone?" Her scowl was enough to douse Yang's playful joking. "Sorry. You just seem kind of...not happy? What's up?"

"He hasn't texted back."

"Ohhh. Who? Your boyfriend?" Yang didn't know why exactly, but the thought of Blake having a boyfriend made her chest tighten. Blake herself flushed. "N-No. It's too dangerous to have a serious relationship when you're....like us. It's...my partner. We had to split earlier today and I told him I got caught. Usually he texts back to let me know if he's going to help or not." She pouted at the blank screen. She wasn't upset by the lack of texts per se. The fact that he hadn't checked in on his own state in hours was tearing at her brain. He loved texting and would do it all the time if he was still just a normal teenager. But he hadn't. And Blake was bordering on frantic.

Yang took the risk. She slid an arm around Blake's shoulders, only pausing for moment when she felt the other girl tense under her touch. "It'll be okay. If he's anything like you, he's kicking ass and taking all kinds of names. I'm sure he just....got busy. Or he lost his phone." Blake nodded. It _was_ common for him to forget about his phone when he got wrapped up in something. Plus he could be back at the base already and all of her worry would have been for nothing. Blake let herself lean into Yang's side, feeling warmth from the other girl.

"When we get downtown we're going to have to find a place to sleep. It's already getting late." Yang looked out the window at the skyline. Strange. It had seemed like the early morning just moments ago. How had the day passed her by so quickly? Would every day feel like this? If so, she had no problem waiting 9 more months until she turned 18 and officially escaped the system for good. And with people as smart as Blake on her side, she was sure she could achieve that just as smoothly.   

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that little bit with Ironwood takes place before the events happening with Weiss, just for some clarification. And again thank you for reading, feel free to talk to me in the comments and leave a kudos if you havent!


	8. Youth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby has a dream  
> Blake had a dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mmmmmmm I don't know how to do anything ever in my life  
> it took me forever to come up with the content for this chapter so *shrug emoji*
> 
> I am really sorry in advance for all of the timeline jumping. I'll probably do some cop out move and get everyone caught up with each other. Although the beginning of the chapter is the same time as the beginning of Weiss' chapter so its already p gucci?

Cold metal bites into her bare back. There's a swarm of men and women in long white coats, faces covered in surgical masks, moved around her like wasps around a hive. "Pulse?"

"Good." 

"Alright. Let's get started." It took a moment to sink in, but once it did she knew exactly where she was. "I'm not one of them." Her voice was hoarse and barely above a frantic whisper. None of the countless doctors paid her any mind. "I'm not one of them, please don't." 

"We're ready for operation." 

"Alright. Let's get started." The sharp pain of a knife biting through her skin took over each nerve in her still very awake body. Weren't they supposed to use some sort of novocaine for this? And why had they started by plunging it into her chest? She could feel her flesh tearing in two as the knife glided down her torso. Despite the horrid pain, she wasn't screaming. She knew the sound of her own scream and she knew that it wasn't one of the various sounds that was filling the dark, cramped room. However, there was another pained yelp that she did recognize. She knew it far too well and it killed her to hear almost as much as the doctors tearing her apart. 

She managed to turn her head to find the source of the scream. On a table very much like her own she saw something that made the blood that freely poured from her open chest turn icy. The body on the table next to her had been dismantled at a much faster rate than herself. It had been reduced to little more than a torso, an arm, and a screaming, writhing head adorned with luxurious blonde hair that had been dyed a light strawberry tint from the blood pooling and dripping off of the table. 

"Ruuuuby!!" The mouth coughed out a spurt of blood as it howled her name. "RUBY RUBY RUBY!!!"

"Yang!" She reached out for her sister, only to receive a flash of pain as the doctor's cleaved her arm off. "Yang!!"

"Ruby!"

"Ruby?" A much more gentle touch grazes her shoulder. A small shake. She slowly opened her eyes and the gentle hand helped her sit up. Through bleary vision she saw shaggy blond and worried blue eyes gazing back at her. "Dad?" Like in her dream, her voice was barely above a whisper. She blinked a few times and her vision cleared once more. 

Jaune brushed her bangs from her forehead. No metal table. No doctors. No Dad. Just the dark basement and the other teens. "Were you having a nightmare? You started crying." She reached up and touched her cheek, feeling the drying tears that he spoke of.

"I..."

"It's okay. You don't have to explain yourself." He ruffled her hair in a suspiciously Taiyang-like fashion. He understood. They all had nightmares here. Nearly a week had passed since she woke up in the basement for the first time and it hadn't gotten any easier to adjust herself to her surroundings. Jaune tried to help, he really did. He helped comfort her after the inevitable nightmares and spent nearly all of his free time talking with her to keep her calm. He did most of the talking, actually. She liked to listen to his stories about his 7 sisters. About how he found himself down here in the first place.

"I was really dumb. I mean, mega dumb. I hadn't slept in a week and I hadn't showered in three." Nora let out an over exaggerated gag from across the room. Jaune shot her a glare, but continued his story regardless. "I wandered into this library, hoping no one would really pay much attention to me. Homeless people crash there all the time and I figured they would all just think I was one of them. It worked for awhile and then-uh..." He rubbed his neck sheepishly. His cheeks were beginning to turn crimson. 

"He fell asleep." Ren finished for him. He had clearly heard the story a few times now. The stoic teen even smirked a bit as he recounted it. "In the children's section." Ruby cupped her hands over her mouth to stifle the giggle that was bubbling in her throat. "And he started snoring."

"Would you stop!" Jaune was beyond flustered at this point. Clearly he was embarrassed by something that has totally happened to countless other people before and no one could logically blame him for doing so. "Yeah. I fell asleep and snored. Someone told the librarian about a smelly teenager snoring in the reading corner and she called the Juvies." 

"They knew you were an AWOL just from your smell?"

"No no. It's pretty common to call Juvies for all cases involving people under 18. They probably figured I was either homeless or a runaway. At worst I was an AWOL. If I was a runaway they would have just hauled me back home and probably come to get me in a few weeks when my parents signed the order for being unruly. If I was homeless, they would have taken me for quota fill." Ruby fidgeted in her spot. She found herself wondering if her uncle had ever picked up a homeless teenager to fill whatever quota he needed to fill for the day. The thought was easy to shake off. Her uncle would never do that. He was a good man. "So what happened next? How'd you get away from the cops?"

"Didn't. A mother woke me up and told me they were coming. I figured she was going to give me a smug lecture about how stupid I had been and that the world would be better once more parts were strewn around the country. Or-or something like that." Jaune tried to play it off. But it was obvious that someone had given him that exact lecture before. "She didn't. She told me what had happened. That they were coming for me. I was about to panic and bolt but she stopped me. And then she..." He glanced down at his hands, turned them over a few times, and then looked back up. "She told me to come with her. She had two little girls with her and she told me to come with her. A smelly, tired, possible criminal. And she just took me with her."

"And then what happened?"

"She told me her name was Darlene. I stayed with her in her home for a few days before this van showed up. It was white, unmarked. I thought she might've sold me out but I figured she wouldn't waste all that time on me to just give me up. I was right. I got in the van and it brought me here. Been here for a couple weeks now." Ruby was in awe. So it hadn't been the first time that the kind waitress had helped someone like them. She must've believed her after all when she had told her that she was a runaway, but she knew what kind of trouble a runaway would get in this day and age anyhow. Even if the living conditions weren't the best, the woman had her best interests in mind when she acted. 

"What about you?" She turned her attention away from her past towards Ren and Nora. "You don't wanna know." Nora cut off any sort of narrative before it could even start. Ren shrugged. "Maybe another time." The other two kids weren't as talkative as the four of them. They had gotten separated from their original AWOL group and were frankly a little bit salty about it. "They don't say much." Jaune had whispered to her on her first day. "Don't let it get to you."

Ruby starts to lose track of time. There was no clock or windows, just an unsettlingly dim lightbulb. And mildew. Lots of mildew. She thinks another week may have passed when the cellar door opens. She knows its not because it's time to eat, because they ate a little while ago. Maybe, about an hour or two ago? Or longer? Even if it hadn't been longer she wasn't hungry. Well she was kind of hungry. Didn't matter. 

The woman from the top of the stairs held a clipboard. "Alright. Moving day. I need you, you, you, and you." She pointed to Ren, Nora, Jaune. And last of all, Ruby. And something inside her clenched up and made her panic. Ren and Nora stood and gathered their things. Neither of them had much. Small bags with books for Ren and tinkering tools for Nora. Jaune gave her a tight smile and pulled himself to his feet as well. Ruby hesitated. She reached up and grabbed Jaune's arm, tugging him back down to whisper. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know. It'll be okay. C'mon." Her grip on his arm tightened. He sighed and hauled her to her feet. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." She was rigid as the four of them climbed the stairs and exited the cellar for the first time. Since she had been unconscious the last time she had come through the upper floor, she had no idea that they had been stationed below a cluttered pawn shop. The old junk that lined the shelves seemed to beg her to stop and pick them up and examine every last detail. But they had to keep moving. Past shelves and cases outside into bright light that made Ruby squint. An unmarked white van parked in front of the shop. The woman opened up back of the van and motioned inside. "Hop in." 

A sudden wave of doubt washed over her. She didn't want to get in the van. She wanted to start running and never look back but fear kept her stuck in place. Ren and Nora got int first. Jaune started to climb in but the tiny hand on his sleeve was surprisingly strong. Ruby was always weirdly strong for her size. "Ruby. Come on. We have to hurry and keep moving or someone could see us." 

"我不能“

"What?" Ren poked his head out of the van. ”我不能。" 

"What's going on out there?" Nora kept her voice hushed, trying not to draw more attention to the scene. But it was obvious that she was getting antsy. “我害怕。”

"Jaune, get in the van. I'll handle this." Ren slid out and approached the younger girl. It took some hard core prying but Jaune finally released his arm from her grasp. Ren took Ruby's face in his hands and gently turned it upwards to look him in the eyes. ”不要害怕。“

"我不想去。我不相信这个！” She put her hands on top of his and tried to remove them. Lie Ren's determination was far stronger than her panic. He would calm her down. He had to. "Ruby. 没关系。我们会安全的。“ Silver eyes met pink (he had pigment injections?) and the wave of doubt and anxiety was replaced with relaxation. He stroked his thumb over her cheek. "那个更好吗？”

"Yes. Better." Both of them dropped their hands and Ren helped her into the van. The pawn shop owner slammed the back doors shut and hollered something to the driver. The van lurched forward and they drove off. Silence shrouded them for a long time. Finally Nora cleared her throat. "So, Ruby. You speak Chinese?"

* * *

 _"For those of you who wish to help us in our cause, now is the time! Brothers and sisters, now is the time for action! Action against the forces that wish to tear us apart! Action against an unjust system!" Wind whipped unruly black hair to and fro, the good people of Austin ignoring the call to action from the scrappy looking girl perched atop an overturned milk crate. In one hand she clutches the megaphone she uses to amplify her voice across the park, and in the other she holds a sign. These people are a common sight in Austin these days. They have been ever since the war. The sign reads "_ CHILDREN AREN'T VIDEOS. YOU CAN'T UNWIND THEM!"

_"Where is your humanity?! Why are troubled teens any different than you and I?!" People continued to pass her by without a second thought. "HEY!" She stomped her foot, ignoring the creaking plastic as she continued to rally the indifferent citizens of Austin. Hours passed and the girl screamed herself sore. Finally someone approached her, straining to hear her hoarse voice over the everyday chatter of the city and dying megaphone batteries. The sun was dipping below the skyline and casting an ominous shadow over the figure before her. "You're sending a wonderful message. How very brave of you to announce your stance to the world like this."_

_She tucked the sign beneath her arm. "Someone has to. Do you know how many innocent kids are sent to Harvest Camps because Stahos lose funding every year?" He nodded. "Are you a Staho kid, my dear?" She stepped down from her box, her feet aching from standing there all day, and sat down on the crate. She opened her mouth to speak, bit her lip, and looked at the ground. "Not exactly. What about you?"_

_"Not exactly." He towers over her at this height. As an act of courtesy, he takes a knee so they are eye to eye. "I watched you for awhile before approaching, you know. Heard you yell about your cause. Are you with a group?"_

_"No. Not currently. I've learned that people are more likely to listen if they think you're with a bigger party than just a 16 year old girl with a sign and a megaphone." He chuckled. Takes her hand in his own. His smile makes her heart spin and she doesn't know why. "Would you like to be?" She nods so hard he chuckles to himself about being able to hear her brain rattle. "My name is Adam. Adam Taurus. I'm a part of a called the White Fang. We stand for things very similar to what you were standing up for today. If you'll come with me I can take you to our current base."_

_There is an obvious moment of hesitation. Taking off with a man she just met to a shady organization that stands against the law of the land that any child aged 13 to 18 can be legally taken apart and used for parts. There was always the off chance that it was a scam. Or worse, it was all legit and she could end up arrested or dead because of it. But what he was offering was good. Almost too good to refuse. He gave her hand a light squeeze. "What do you say?"_

_"Alright. I'll do it."_

"Blake? Wake up." Yang gave her shoulder a little shake. "Our stop is coming up." The blonde plucked the bag from her lap and began straightening out their belongings. Blake shook her hair from her face and groaned softly. Why had she dreamt about that of all things? She didn't even remember falling asleep. She certainly didn't recall leaning against Yang's shoulder. Thank God it hadn't been the injured one. "C'mon. I don't know where the base is. You'll have to lead the way." She blinks her eyes back to focus and glances outside. It's already dark. "I think we might have to put that on hold. It's kind of in a shady place and I'm not sure it'd be entirely safe right now."

"Oh. Okay...." She trails off, losing her focus momentarily. "Where will we go instead?" Blake considers it. She thinks back to her dream, her memory of the day she joined the White Fang. It had been nearly dark when he had found her, hadn't it? Yes, the sun was setting then. Had he insisted on returning to the base or had he taken her somewhere else? If he took her somewhere, where was that? 

_"It isn't safe here." He told her. He hadn't let go of her hand as he had led her through the streets. The streets were now filling with all kinds of night life. Young adults in expensive clothing that were fancy enough to look casual enough to spend the night in a bar while wearing it. The man leading her looked old enough to blend in, but young enough to still be around her age. She considered asking him, but decided that for the time being, it didn't matter._

_"Do you have a place to stay here?" She shook her head. The safehouse she had been squatting in was on the verge of compromise with her constant coming and going, so she had said her final goodbyes when she left that morning. "Alright. We'll have to crash at mine." She supposed she should have been suspicious at this point. It was starting to set in, but no alarms were going off quite yet. There wasn't much trust, but just enough that she had no problem letting him lead her, hand in hand, to his apartment._

"We....might have to get a hotel." Blake tightened her grip on the bag strap slung over her shoulder as they deboarded the bus. The nightlife in Austin is still thriving and they blend in even better now, especially with their new outfits. Well....the bee shirt stands out a bit but Yang has already got a few drunken compliments on it. So they'll probably be fine. "I thought we were heading to Beacon?" Yang's voice is far too loud and draws far too much attention for Blake to relax. "No. We have to make a few stops first."

"My uncle said-"

"I know what he said!" Blake hissed. Her hands clenched and unclenched at her side. Even if he had technically saved their asses that afternoon, she didn't see what gave that man the right to put so much pressure on her. She had only planned on taking Yang as far as the nearest safehouse, but now she felt obliged to take her all the way through until she came of age. And on top of that, the stress of finding Beacon in the first place. "The place I thought about staying is..... not really available."

"You lost the key or something?"

"Or something. Come on." She reached for Yang's wrist but the blonde went in and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together. Blake made no move to undo the action. They moved through the crowd seamlessly. There were so many people out and about, even for a Saturday. "It's not.... Saint Patrick's Day, is it?" Yang whispered. "Not enough green. Spring break?" Yang shakes her head. "Too early."

The two of them slip into the lobby of the cheapest looking motel they can find. Blake uses the money that Qrow slipped them and pays for the night. The most affordable room only contained a single queen sized bed. Blake dumped their bag on the chair near the window and pulled the curtains shut with a short warning about laying low and staying out of sight. Yang made a small noise of acknowledgement. It was clear that her focus was elsewhere. "You okay?" She nodded. Her eyes still seemed unfocused and vague. "You scared?" Shook her head. "What's up, then?"

"I'm a criminal." The answer is simple. And true. "You...get used to it." The response is not comforting in any sense of the word. Blake isn't even sure if she's trying to be. "I'll never see my family again."

"That's not true. When you turn 18 you can go home. Well, you can at least see them again. Probably not the smartest thing to try and reestablish your old life." Yang flopped face down into the bed and groaned. Or screamed. The sound was muffled and it was hard to decipher. "My sister...." Blake climbed onto the bed next to her and leaned her head closer to hers. Long black tendrils cascade around her, framing her face like an inky waterfall. It pools and mixes with the fluffy blonde splayed out on the dark grey comforter. "She'll be fine, I'm sure. As long as she's- well. As long as she...." There is no gentle way to phrase it.  _As long as she's not like you._ "She'll be fine."

Yang lets out a deep sigh. "You don't know my sister." Yang rolled over and smiled a little at the girl hovering above her. "You have really nice eyes." Fingers reached up and pushed her bangs away for a better glimpse at the strange yellow that gazed back at her. Blake flinched and pulled away. "Sorry. Pigment injections? I got 'em too." She lowered her hand and pointed to her own eyes. They were a hazy lavender that were starting to fade back to blue. Blake hadn't noticed the slight oriental slant to her eye shape before. "You're Asian?"

"The name Xiao Long didn't tip you off?" Blake pinched Yang's nose and the blonde screeched. "Hey! Yeah, I'm Chinese! On my dad's side! Let go of my nose!" She batted at her hand and continued to whine. When Blake finally released her poor abused nose Yang sat up and adjusted herself so she was leaning against the headboard where Blake joined her. "What about you?"

"What about me?" 

"I told you something about me. Now tell me something about you." She accented the final word with a gentle boop on the nose. It wrinkled under her touch. Blake was not used to spilling all of her personal secrets to someone she had just met. But if she was going to spend this unspecified amount of time with her...she might as well. "I'm...Japanese? Half black half japanese. Mom's side." The two of them made small talk until their eyes got heavy with sleep. "I'll move to the floor." Yang mumbled. Blake placed a hand on her shoulder. "No. It's fine. Plus you're injured. It wouldn't be fair." 

"You've already done so much! It's fine, I'll take the chair."

"You absolutely will not. Here." She tugged the blankets out from underneath the two of them and yanked them back over them just as fast. "We can share if you're so stubborn." She reached over and clicked off the bedside light, submerging them in darkness. There was no protest from either of them. Just a soft "Good night."

_The next day they return to the base. It's not as bustling as Blake had originally thought it would be. There are maybe a dozen people moving supplies around and a few more studying a white board with all kinds of arrows squiggling across it. "Look alive, men. I've brought us a new recruit." Not all of them drop what they're doing, but enough of them do that it gives her the sense that whoever this Adam is, he is definitely in charge of something important here. The henchmen gather around the two of them in a small semi circle._

_Adam clapped a large hand onto her shoulder. "This is Blake. From now on she'll be working with us and our cause. She's going to be my right hand man." A few worried whispers pass through the small crowd. "She's very passionate about her beliefs, much like us. I'm sure her passion could be a much needed fire for our work. Plus she's young, so that will help draw in a younger crowd."_

_"That would be....beneficial." One of the masked men murmurs. Blake tries not to think about the possible other meaning he could be speaking of. "She's also incredibly clever. We could use that to help out with infiltrations and such. Blake, show them the sign you made." Blake proudly holds up her sign, a little weathered from being toted around since yesterday. The men take their time looking at it. Studying it. Finally one speaks up.  
_

_"It doesn't make sense." Her confidence drops 40 feet into the Earth. "I think the word you meant was rewind. You can't unwind a video, you rewind it. If you rewound someone wouldn't that be like putting them back together after you took them apart?" There's thunderous laughter. Her confidence dropped even farther._

_"Wouldn't that be crazy? Putting someone back together?"_

_"Ah, give her a break. You make mistakes when you're young."_

* * *

Pale hands gently tugged at the gauze until it came loose and fell free. "There. How does it look?" Another set of hands, much more callous, reaches out and gently traces the stitching along the skin. "Perfect. A lot of care and hard work went into this."

"A lot of your hard work, sir. You should be proud of yourself." Ironwood held his hand up to silence Winter. "No. Not until we're sure. Doctor, BPM?"

"75, sir. Brain activity is also consistent. It's all looking good, sir." He nodded. The head surgeon turned to his comrades and mimicked the nod. "Everything is clear. We're ready whenever you are." The doctors part like a wave and all look to him. They expected him to do the honors. "I couldn't. You've all done so much for the project-"

"But you've spent years on this! You've dedicated nearly a 10th of your life to this project! Uh, sir." The young female doctor adjusted her glasses and sheepishly avoided his gaze. "I made plans and collected materials. You are the competent team that brought it together. And, if this goes according to plan, there will be more to follow." The speech wasn't much of a speech at all, but it got his point across in an inspirational way. The head surgeon did the honors.

Light green eyes blink open. The room is dark and it's hard to adjust. Everything is hard to adjust to. Muscles that had laid dormant for months ached as they twitched to life, moved to a face that was lined with plastic threads that pulled together multicolored patches of skin. Brain made from different lobes from different places fire neurons as best as they can, like an old car sputtering to life. A small sigh passes through chapped lips. Ironwood smiles. She's awake. She's breathing. She's alive again.

"Salutations, Penny."

* * *

 

They return to the base first thing in the morning. Neither of them mention the whole sharing the bed thing. Not that they're embarrassed. Well, Blake is a little embarrassed, but she doesn't let it show. They walk in silence in the fresh Sunday morning air. Blake noticed that Yang hadn't grabbed for her hand like she had yesterday as she walked. She tried not to feel too dejected by such a meaningless detail.

The base itself is also calm. Too calm. Usually there was some noise. People chattering softly or things being moved around. But it was completely silent. Blake clenched her jaw tightly. "This isn't right. Follow me." She tried to keep herself from shaking in her boots as she lead Yang around the base. The more they searched the more it became clear that it had been abandoned and recently. There were fading scuff marks on the floor where feet had rushed to carry their hosts away from danger and a new crack in the plaster. Someone must've run into the wall with a crate of supplies that was much larger than them.

It was all too much for her to handle. She slumped against the wall, focusing on the cracked plaster as she slid down the wall to the floor. "You okay?"

"Gone. Everyone's gone."

"Well we just have to find them, right?"

"You don't understand!" Blake snapped. She had never snapped at a stranger before. "If they're gone, that means something happened. Bad something. They could have been raided by Juvies or.... or even parts pirates! They could all be dead for all we know!" She ran her hands through her hair, long digits tangled in the thick locks. She wasn't having a panic attack, she wasn't having a panic attack. She couldn't have a panic attack. Not now. Not now when they were out there. Not when they needed her to keep it together.

"Hey, Blake? Could you come here for a second?" She isn't sure when exactly Yang wandered away. She isn't sure how long she had been sitting there with her head in her hands trying to control her breathing. Her stance is shaky but she manages to locate her charge. Yang crouched in front of a door frame that had been busted down. The boot print was still very prominent. "Okay? Is this what you wanted to show me?" Seeing a felled door was not helping her anxiety. If anything it was making it so much worse. "No, look."

Blake knew that Yang was strong. She had managed to keep her from freeing herself and running when Yang had grabbed her the first time in the woods (was that really just yesterday?). It still surprised her to see the blonde bombshell with an injured shoulder lift the door like it was just a chair or a folding table. What was under the door shocked her even more. She snatched up the small scrap of paper. It was dirty, a few dust stains smudging the words. The door clattered back to the floor and Yang pressed up against her, shoulder to shoulder. 

**B-  
** **Got sold out. Some capped. Relocated. CVFY ASAP  
** **-SSN**

* * *

_Hi. I'm a parent, just like you. In this day and age, being a parent seems to be one of the hardest jobs out there. With teen drinking, drug use, and violence on the uprise, you might not know where to turn. It can be....frustrating. But it doesn't have to be. There is a simple way to end all of the unsafe mischief your child is involved in. Stop into your local Juvenile Crime Handling unit and pick up the papers for unwinding today and send your unruly teen to Atlas._

_At Atlas Harvest Camp, they take their time in easing your child into a divided state, where they will not only be safer, but happier. I had my own son unwound by the camp's incredible staff, and I know that his hands are out there somewhere making beautiful music, NOT picking up the bottle. Both my husband and I feel better and know that our daughter will grow up without a negative influence in the house. Your family could be just like ours._

_Don't wait. Send your unruly teen to Atlas Harvest camp today. Atlas: Efficiency, guaranteed._

_**Paid for by MAUVE (Moms Against Unruly and Violent Energies).**_  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I've never fallen asleep in the children's section of a library
> 
> Translations for Chinese:  
> 我不能：I can't (wo bu neng)  
> 我害怕：I'm scared (wo hai pa)  
> 不要害怕：dont be scared (bu yao hai pa)  
> 我不想去我不相信这个: I don't want to go. I don't trust this (wo bu xiang qu. bu xiangxin zhege)  
> 没关系。我们会安全的： It's okay. We'll be safe. (mei guan xi. women hui anquan de)  
> 哪个更好吗？： Is that better? (na ge geng hao ma?)


	9. Boom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things can't always go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hi guys guess what ya boi is graduating!!!!!!  
> tbh at the pace i write at i'll probably be graduated by the time I publish this lol
> 
> so now that most of the exposition is out of the way, I'll probably work on developing plots like Penny and Pyrrha's and maybe even Cinder's who knows I sure dont
> 
> I also want to super thank you all for reading this story. I'm really glad that so many of you are enjoying reading it every time it updates and it really encourages me to update even faster. That being said, if you like my writing I have about 6 other fics on here that i'm proud of and 1 that i wish i could personally erase from my life. If you're interested, give em a go and let me know what you think!!!!
> 
> Also this will include some cameos from Achievement Hunter, Rooster Teeth, and a few RWBY OCS since there's only so many canon characters that can suffer before you run out of good ideas. And if you have any ocs/character suggestions i'm always up for stirring the pot!!!!

Sweat dripped down her face. The mask clings to her like a second skin. "That's good!" They had told her. "No one will ever know." The reassurances do little to calm her nerves. Three of them sit in an unmarked light blue van. One of them reached over and stroked her hair but she slapped his hand away. "Ah ah. Don't get too rough now. Your temper can be quite explosive." The man in the driver's seat chuckled at his partner's jest. She doesn't find it as funny. She peeled off the mask and held it in her hands. 

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet now. You've already climbed so many mountains, overcame so many hardships. Why stop when you're right at victory's door?"

"I feel bad." In her line of work, you didn't "feel bad". You did what you were told and you didn't complain when the check came in. You turned a blind eye to the moral dilemma and focused on bringing down the system. You focused on a world without government funded murder of teens. These days that world was becoming harder and harder to focus on. 

They had started with camps, naturally. Infiltration was easy when you looked like one of their patients. Once inside they would encourage the real charges to rise up and topple the staff. Hundreds were liberated, and thousands were killed. Then harvest camps got serious. Atlas set the standard, mixing military boeufs and boeufs-in-training into their staff so liberations were nearly impossible. They had kept at it for a few months until fewer and fewer of their operatives came back whole. Then they had switched to this. 

"What is there to feel bad about? They knew what they signed up for. Get in there and do your job. Make the Fang proud of you." Ilia took a deep breath. She was tempted to run her hands through her hair and over her shaking knees but she didn't dare to. "They're just kids."

"They're tithes. They know what they signed up for." The driver repeated. The other man reached out to slap her back, but stalled halfway there. Instead he opted for a light pat, the touch so feathery it was barely there. "Make the Fang proud, Ilia. We believe in you. Adam believes in you." Mentioning their bullheaded leader does the trick. It always had. She slid the door open and cautiously took a few steps onto the faux green grass lawn. It's only a few long strides from the van to the front door. Ilia shot one last glance over her shoulder. The two in the van shoot her a thumbs up in return. She takes another deep breath and slowly opened the door.

"Good afternoon. Welcome to the Northern Austin Tithe Recreation Center." The woman has bright blue eyes and red lipstick smeared like a blood stain over lips that cover a blindingly perfect smile. Her platinum blonde hair is piled into a neat bun atop her head. She looked Ilia up and down a few times and the smile suddenly looks more forced. "Are you here to pick up a little brother or sister?" It's obvious that Ilia is not a tithe. She might be small in stature, but she is clearly not 13 anymore. She is also not wearing the traditional whites that the children of the Lord are swaddled in from birth. The woman's smile looks almost menacing. One misstep and her perfectly manicured nails are seconds away from dialing the nearest Juvey station.

"I'm here for a visit." The woman doesn't seem convinced. "Mother sent me to tell Job that dinner will be ready at 6:30, and that he should be home 15 minutes before." The name is common for tithes in this area. A very holy name, the man who God had taken everything from but still offered more and praised his name. There is bound to be more than one of those in the center. There is an awkward pause as the woman surveys her some more. She's not completely convinced, but she lets her pass anyways. "Just remember, all recreational activities are for tithes only." 

Ilia nods. She isn't here for that stuff anyways. Once she's out of the woman's sight, she ducked into a bathroom and locked the door. The large mirror over the sinks reflect a scared girl with too many freckles. She's half convinced it isn't her. Nimble fingers skate gently across her face and mark each individual spot. She had always been teased for her complexion. She had been teased for never fitting in, for always blending into the background. Anger from the memory of the teasing boiled inside of her. "Make them proud. Make him proud." She took a deep breath. "Make her notice. Make her regret leaving." She slipped the mask on, feeling much more like herself than before as she exited the bathroom and strode confidently into the middle of the recreation center.

Several of the tithes turn to look at her and the chatter and general noise begins to fade.  _Perfect. All eyes on me, kids._ Ilia raises her hands above her head and begins to clap. She's not blending in. She is not going unnoticed. 

The explosion doesn't either.

No one will know who she was. Everyone will know who she was. She was done blending in. The White Fang would be very proud of her. 

Blake would remember she existed. 

Hopefully.

* * *

_"It's been over a week since the highway car accident that caused a statewide man hunt. The subject, now dubbed Austin AWOL by social media, is still at large. Witnesses describe the AWOL as tall with a strong build, long blonde hair, and violet eyes. Reports say the AWOL had a severely injured shoulder, and took the gun of the Juvenile Officer she had been traveling with. Reward is being offered for her apprehension, and-"_

Taiyang switched the channel. He couldn't stomach the news anymore. None of it had been good. Between reports of the "Austin AWOL" they filled in their time with the story of the tithe rec center that had been attacked by clappers. There had been no survivors, and some speculated that if there were any then parts pirates would have taken them. If any good was truly happening out in the world, they weren't sharing it. 

Ruby hadn't come to visit in a few days now. He figured school had her busy, but that didn't stop her before. To be perfectly honest, he was starting to get restless in this room all by himself. Even the nurses frequent visits were beginning to become dull and uneventful. 

Solitude gave him plenty of time to think. The news never portrayed his attacker in a positive light. He wondered if he had been anyone else, if he hadn't been a part of the Juvey Academy, then maybe it would have been different for her. He wondered if he had put his foot down and just let that nasty woman sue him for everything he had, then maybe his daughters would still come and see him. He knew that letting them choose to unwind his oldest had driven Ruby away, but he couldn't bring himself to believe that both of his daughters, the lights in his life, were out there despising him. 

Qrow stopped in maybe twice that week. Told him that he hadn't seem Yang since the Friday before the accident. Apologized for misplacing his gun like that. A part of Tai didn't believe that Qrow Branwen ever misplaced his gun. And that part didn't know whether he should be angry at him or glad that his slip up had led to his daughter surviving. 

"Mr. Xiao Long? Dinner time." The kind nurse placed the bland tray of hospital rations in front of him. He sighed but forced a small smile. "Thank you, Celia."

"....Mr. Xiao Long?" Her voice is timid and he knows what she's about to say. "The procedure would be so simple. It would only take a few minutes and your arm would be completely healed!"

"It wouldn't be my arm." Celia sighed. "I just don't understand you, Mr. Xiao Long. Wouldn't a teacher at the Juvey Training Academy be all gung ho about getting new parts to replace the old ones? It's a part of your job, your way of life!" That wasn't true. He didn't teach young Juvies about replacing themselves until they weren't truly themselves. He taught them how to deliver young delinquents into a divided state with as little pain as possible. He taught them how to do their jobs without any bloodshed. Just because unwinding was a part of his job didn't mean he had to take parts. "I've made my choice Celia. The arm will heal on its own time." The young nurse sighed and turned on her heel. "I'll be back to change your IV in a half an hour. Please....please consider the doctor's offer. He does know what's best." 

"I doubt that."

The nurse left and Tai sunk back into his own mind. He would have plenty of time to think. His arm wasn't going to heal anytime soon. 

* * *

 It started with a knock on the door in the early morning light. The couple rubbed the sleep from their eyes and slowly pulled the door open. 

Staring back up at them is an infant. The poor thing is barely days old and it has already been storked; abandoned by its biological mother on their doorstep. The wife looks at her husband with pouty lips and doe eyes."We have to take it. No one else will!" It takes some convincing, but he eventually caves.

They name her Yue. A simple Chinese word meaning moon. For years their child continues to grow and nurture under their care and it feels to her as if they were her biological parents all along. 

And then things began to change.

It was subtle at first. Yue had always been put off by dresses and skirts. She detested them, but mostly because they made it harder to climb trees and perform the baller stunts she had become famous for in the neighborhood. It came to the point where she had outright refused to wear them. 

At 11 she insisted on shorter, boyish hair styles. She bleached her hair blond and started wearing loose hoodies and going by different names.

"They're just nicknames, Ma. It's not that I don't like Yue, but it sounds so much cooler!"

"Monkey King is not cooler than Yue."

There were days when Yue's mother believed that her child actually was a monkey. She would often look out the window to see her swinging from branch to branch, using her unnatural agility to vault into the next door neighbor's trees. She and her husband shared many conversations on where their child had truly come from. It was clear that either one of both parents were of Asian decent, hence her Chinese name. Had they been performers? Acrobats? Most likely they were just scared teens who hadn't been unwound because their parents were too apprehensive to do so. Unwinding was still a fairly new concept to most parents, even though the war had ended nearly a decade before. 

They were never afraid of unwinding.

When Yue turned 15, they received a huge shock. Probably one of their biggest so far. Though, maybe it shouldn't have been that shocking.

Yue sat them down in their living room. She kept looking at her feet and chewing on her lip. "Honey, is something wrong? You know you can tell us anything." Her husband took her hand in his and rubbed soothing circles into the teen's flesh. "I...need to get this off my chest. I've been feeling this for a long time and-and i need to tell you. I can't hold it in much longer." There were a million of things that their child could have told them in this moment. There were all kinds of possibilities that could have poured from Yue's mouth like water coming from a broken dam.  

"I think you should cal me Sun from now on. 'Cuz that's what I am! Y-your....your son." The two of them sat in stunned silence. "And...and, like, that's my name? Sun...your...your son? Get it?" Still neither of his parent's spoke. They just kept staring him down with blanched faces and wide eyes. What their child had told them wasn't that shocking. Thousands of people came out as trans each year. Maybe they just never thought their child would be one of those people. 

They didn't bring it up again. 

At least they didn't bring it up in front of Sun.

The two of them discussed this new revelation frequently behind closed doors. Simply put, they didn't know what to do. They had lived 15 years, a decade and a half, with a daughter. Before their daughter had been storked they knew nothing about raising children. Would raising a son be any different than raising a girl? Or would things still be the same since after all it was still the same baby they had raised for over a decade. But for whatever reason, it didn't feel like it would be.

"I just can't, Steven."

"Then we only have one choice. I can do it after work tomorrow and it will be over before we know it."

"He's our son."

"Is he?"

He had a point. Was a stork ever really your child? No matter how much you loved them, they weren't yours. They didn't share your DNA. It would be no different than a Staho thinning the herd once a month. "....Fine. Do it."

It was a few weeks before Sun found the triplicate signed with his parent's names. He was in his father's home office looking for his white out so he could test a theory he had read online. Instead his fingers brushed agains the tri colored papers. An Unwind Order. His deadname scrawled across the top and his school picture printed in the corner. Typical. How many internet horror stories had he read about kids like him being sent away for simply existing. He just never thought that his parents would be like the ones in those stories.

Those stories never talked about what happened next. What the kids in the situation would do once they found out. Most of them time the story was retold by news stations nation wide, a few online were first hand accounts from blogs that had went dead silent after mentioning it. All he knew for sure is that he couldn't be unwound. Not for this. He couldn't get got for this.

The hardest part was waiting until the scheduled pick up date. His parents had opted for a discrete after school pick up. There were plenty of stories about that online, too. The Juvey's would nab the kid on their way home from school and cart them off without another word. It was also considered taboo to talk about kids once they were taken away for unwinding, so once they vanished most students would assume that was what had happened and they would never come up in conversation again. The plan wasn't foolproof, but it was damn near perfect.

The final bell bounced around his skull like the anxiety that had been building up all day. It was Friday. The day he was scheduled. He had a very limited amount of time to put his plan into action. "Hey Ziqi!" The Chinese exchange student turned to face him, lips quirking in a manner that was neither too excited nor unhappy as he approached her. He slung his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. Her recently bleached hair brushed his bare arms. It had taken an insane amount of convincing to get her to allow him to do it. Even after telling her that it would most definitely catch the eye of her current American crush.

"Sun. What is happening?" Ziqi Wang was their only exchange student this year. Some of their more crude classmates often called them anything along the lines of clones, siblings, or any other vaguely racist names they could throw their way. It didn't help that in these past few weeks the two of them had been dressing similar. This often made the girl wary of spending too much time around him. It wasn't that she didn't like him, she just didn't really appreciate the negative attention it brought her way. At school anyways, Sun would keep his distance. 

"Oh you know. The usual. The 'rents wantcha to come by again some time. They really like you for some reason. Not today, of course. I'm sure you're a very VERY busy gal. By the way, I totally say Troy checking you out the other day." He basically talked her ear right off her head, but it was the only thing he could think to do to distract her while he slid her wallet out of the back pocket of her backpack which just so happened to be identical to his. 

The two talked until they reached the front doors. "Well, I gotta motor. Family wanted to have a nice dinner or something tonight. See ya!" Ziqi gave a small wave before turning and heading on her way. With her back turned Sun quickly dropped her wallet onto the ground. "Oh, hey! You dropped this." He scooped it up and handed it back to her innocently. "Thank you. Have a good weekend, Sun." And she went on her way.

The Juvey cop watched the figure approach in his rearview mirror. The figure looked exactly as the report and the anonymous tip had said. Bleached blond, red backpack, and those tacky yellow and black sneakers. Luckily they had received the call just before school got out. Their pickup was taking a different route today to try and avoid him. Not on his watch. 

He waited until the student approached before exiting the car. "Excuse me." They turned to face him. Chinese decent. This was his target for sure. "Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to come with me."

"Why?" Playing dumb. His least favorite tactic. "You know exactly why. Come on, we can do this the easy way." He opened the back door and gestured towards it. Still, she looked confused. "I'm...I'm not understanding. I think you have the wrong one." He let out a frustrated groan. Fine. He would triple check if it made this any easier. "Let me see your ID." She reached back and retrieved her wallet. He snatched it from her hands before she had the chance to back out. 

The picture on the ID had shorter hair. But that seemed to be the only difference. School pictures were taken at the beginning of the year, and that could have given her time to grow it out. "Yue Petansky, you are hereby under the jurisdiction of the Juvenile Police Association of the State of Texas. Get in the car." The girl struggled, but it was something he was used to. He was used to his pickups screaming, which she did the whole way to the station. Some of it in another language he didn't quite understand. By the time they arrived at the station and ran the necessary tests to make sure Yue could be unwound, they discovered something horrifying.

She had been telling the truth. The real Yue Petansky was no doubt long gone by now. This mistake would cost him his job and Ziqi Wang's trust of people she had once viewed as her friends.

It started with a knock on the door in the early morning light. A young woman with stylishly short brown hair opens the door. "We don't open till 7. Beat it." Her voice is gruff and he can't see her eyes behind the tinted sunglasses she wears despite the absence of light. His hands fidget and his guts twist like headphones in a pocket but he stands his ground. "I was told that this place can keep me safe? I'm....I'm uh...." He leans in and lowers his voice so no one else hears his confession, even though the two of them are the only people in sight. "I'm an unwindee." 

Suddenly the woman's demeanor takes a complete 180. She opens the door the rest of the way and ushers the boy inside. "You've come to the right place."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you guys so much for reading! Kudos and comments are much loved!!! Sorry I haven't updated since April but what can I say? I'm a piece of fuckin shit
> 
>  
> 
> Also Suns transition and coming out is based around my own experience butI am always willing to hear from other trans people on how to properly write his story and character


	10. Cafe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bad things happen to good people.  
> Good things happen when you least expect them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol that summary cryptic enough for you????? lol
> 
> um???? i hope this update doesn't come 2 months late but who knows with my shit attention span  
> also i'm moving in about a month and i've been working kind of on and off on a pyrrha cosplay for an upcoming con????? but don't worry, i won't abandon this story. No matter how many dumb other stories i start, I'll dedicate myself to finishing this one the way it deserves. After all, it's my most popular one!

Soft afternoon light pours in through the bookstore's large windows and bathes the already serene scene in hues of orange and pink. The lonely bookkeeper perked up at the sound of the bell that hung above the door tinkling as two new patrons entered the store. It had been a relatively slow day, so he was happy to have at least one potential sale before closing. "Hello. Welcome to Tukson's Books. Let me know if I can help you two with anything." The two teens that have entered shoot him a wary looking glance and resume browsing his extensive selection. He often claimed to own every book under the sun, so he knew they could browse for hours before needing his help. 

Though the boy kept looking back towards him. Every so often he would turn back to make sure the teens weren't struggling to reach a book they wanted or (God forbid) stealing his wares, and he would lock eyes with the boy. He would quickly tear his gaze away and return to sifting through weathered copies of classics with the girl. Tukson would hold the stare and reluctantly go back to sorting inventory. The three of them worked around each other in uncomfortable silence. When he tried ignoring them entirely, he would feel those eyes burning into his back. Their awkward dance of pretending not to notice each other's presence dragged on for what seemed like an eternity until the two finally approached the counter he had stationed himself behind. Oddly enough, they were both empty handed. 

"Can I...help you two?" 

"Do you have a copy of the Third Crusade? Hard back?" The boy's face is smug. His partner toys with the long strands of unnaturally green hair that frames her face. He didn't notice it before, but the pair is unsettling. Their smiles are a bit too malicious and their tones are lined with mockery and sadism. They are not the first teens he's met like this. "I'm afraid that book isn't in our inventory at the moment. Would you like to put your name and number down so I can notify you if and when we get it in?" His dialog is rehearsed, its something he tells all the customers that can't find their particular poison in his collection. But when spouting it to the smug silver haired boy it seems even more fake and forced than usual.

"Hm. I'll think about it." He's not going to do that. They're not even here for the books. Finally the girl speaks up. "I'm interested in something a little....different. Maybe something from the back?" There are no books in the back. Most people don't even know there is a back. She should have no knowledge of the back. It's nearly impossible to keep from breaking down and letting himself fly into the rage he was known for back in the day. Those days are over. He's past them. "I'm afraid I can't let you back there."

"Then I'm afraid we can't leave." The sinister lining in her voice consumes it and her crimson eyes flash. "You've stopped delivering. Your customer is getting impatient." The rouse she had put on dropped with the weight in Tukson's chest. No more dancing around the subject. "I'm not interested in that sort of dealing anymore. It's all about literature now. Much lighter on the conscious when it's said and done." The boy laughs dryly. "Ah yes. So many similarities between books and parts." Tukson clenched his fist to avoid smacking that smug smirk off of his face. "Don't call them that." In the year that he's been out of the business, he's learned to see things differently. His eyes had been opened to the reality of where his supply came from and where it went. What happened to it once it was out of his hands. He had always known, but it had never affected him. He simply didn't care before. It had been his niece who had changed his mind.

"Going soft? Why, Tuk, it's only been a measly 12 months! Your customer will not be pleased to hear this. You're her favorite supplier, you know."

"To hell with her. I said I was done and I meant it. Now you thugs have five minutes to get the hell out of my store before I remove you myself." He punctuates the threat with a snarl. The two remain cemented in place. He's used to dealing with rowdy reckless kids. He has a store room packed with them right now. He's sure they can hear the conversation through the door and know better than to make a commotion. He's found that unwinds are often much smarter than society gives them credit for. The same can be said for these two. How she had managed to convince someone so young to do her dirty work baffled him, but he couldn't let that be the focus. He knew her methods and had no doubt that her pair of troublesome henchmen.

The once serene light pouring in through the windows painted a sinister glow onto the teens. The girl rested her hands on her hips and tilted her head to one side. She looks as if she's sizing him up. Tukson is a big man. Strong muscle on a large frame, covered with hair. She's a slight little thing with petite hands but hardened eyes. The boy is lanky, too much leg for his body. Tukson could probably snap both of them in half in an instant. That would definitely send her a message.

"I don't think you have the guts." A challenge. To get him to act first so they can scream that they're being attacked or something along those lines. To make him think he had the upper hand when really they had already won. 

"I'm not in the mood for mind games."

"Shame. I'm fairly good at them." The boy moves closer to the entrance. One of his gloved hands reaches out and tugs on the blinds. The shop is suddenly cut off from the soft natural light. Nerves coil and heart beats increase. Now it's just the three of them. He thinks he hears one of his kids whimper through the door and he is reminded exactly what he's fighting for. It's not to teach these brats a lesson, it's not to send his ex-client a gorey message. It's to protect those who struggle to protect themselves. "Well, then make a move." 

The boy strikes first, throwing a powerful kick with one of his lengthy legs. Tukson barely manages to block it, catching it with both hands and pushing it away. He counters with an open palmed swipe at his face. The boy swerves effortlessly out of the way but that doesn't stop him from swiping twice more. Both fail to land a hit. The boy moves back as he dodges. This proves to be a poor move on his part. The bookcase hits his back and Tukson smirks at the look of realization crossing his face. He's nearly unable to avoid a fast punch thrown his way. As he ducks he's about to throw an insult to the older man about losing his touch when he feels a tug. Tukson buries his fingers in the mess of silver and without hesitation throws the boy across the room. He's much lighter than expected. He almost feels sorry when his head collides with the counter and he lays still for just a moment. In that moment he sees panic flash across the girl's face. This is real. He can hurt them. He will hurt them. 

The boy is back on his feet, looking a bit dizzy but still determined. "Leave. Now. Or I'll stop going easy on you." The threat does nothing once again. "Well if you're taking the kid gloves off, then so am I." The boy dives right back into their spar. Limbs fly and books topple from their shelves. Blood spills from noses that are definitely no longer in one piece and scratches leave bright red trails across skin. Tukson manages to land a kick on his chest and sends him to the ground. He pins him there with a massive boot clad foot. "I warned you." He turns to the girl, who has surprisingly kept herself from the quarrel this whole time. "I'll crush him. Explain that to your boss." 

She remained indifferent. "Though I wouldn't really mind you killing him-" the boy screeches out a wheezy "Hey!" from beneath his foot "-the boss would be happier if I brought him home in one piece. I think it's time I wrap this up. I still think you should send us on our way with a little cargo. Appease her appetite and keep us from having to come back in a month or two."

Tukson chuckled. Shook his head. "I don't negotiate with pirates anymore." He presses his foot down harder and the boy lets out a pained cough.

"Then I guess we're done here." The girl reaches behind her and whips out something so lightning fast that Tukson doesn't register the situation at first.

In her hands seems to be an old tranq gun. The kind that pirates used because newer models were sold exclusively to Juvies. She aims at his forehead and fires. It takes him milliseconds to remember that tranq guns don't pop that loudly when you fire them. In another second he remembers that old guns were modeled after real ones. They were taken out of circulation because officers would often mix them up and shoot their catch dead before they had the chance to take them in and send them off. He thinks he read that in a book somewhere. Another second passes and a mix of Tukson's brain and blood and even fragments of skull splatter against the teen sci-fi section and the weight on Mercury's chest lifts. The burly man's body hits the floor with a muffled thud. 

Emerald tucks her gun back into it's harness. "You're really out of shape, Merc. He had you down and done for _twice._ " She clicks her tongue. "What would Cinder say?" Mercury spits out some of the blood that has accumulated in his mouth and scoffs. "Please. I did all of the hard work. Again. What would Cinder have to say about that?" She sticks out her tongue at her and he mimics the action. "Ugh. It starting to smell like death in here. Let's raid the back for parts and bail."

* * *

Monthly evaluations came and went like clockwork. New kids came and went in waves. A few months in cast seemed to last mere days. Maybe because she knew what came once the cast came off. The month that her cast did come off, the evaluation was scheduled the day before, ensuring that no matter what she wouldn't be able to save herself from her certain doom. Her caregivers had already chosen her destiny for her and they were not willing to let her break free of it so easily. 

After the day's activities, all of the Staho's inhabitants crowded in the expansive backyard for ice cream. When she was little, this was always her favorite part of evaluations. She wasn't at risk then, and by the time she had reached the age where she was she was already well on her way to becoming an athletic champion. The assistants handed her a slip of paper. She didn't have to look at it to know that in just a few more days her time was officially up. One of her roommates touched her shoulder softly. "It will be okay. At least you won't be going alone." Across the yard about a dozen other kids donned a look of shock and sorrow. The choice had been made. They hadn't made the cut. 

The morning the bus was due to leave was a surprisingly calm Saturday morning. Two by two they boarded the bus. Like the old story about the arc, but much more morbid. The girl next to her fidgeted too much for comfort. She had seen her around the Staho, they were the same age and lived on the same floor. They never talked much and now it seemed that they never would. Did people talk on the harvest buses? Or was it this awkward, calm silence the whole trip? Even if talking was allowed would they be up for it? She never knew being unwound would involve so many rules and nuances. 

"Hello. My name is Pyrrha." Her seat partner looks at her nervously. She has her hair pulled up into two tight buns tied with orange ribbons. The nervous look on her features seemed out I place, likely this girl was normally very sunny and smiling. Energetic. "Freesia." She mumbled. "Like the flower?" She nodded. Pyrrha loved flowers. If she hadn't dedicated her time to sports, maybe she would have taken up gardening. She would never know. "We lived on the same floor, y'know?" Freesia barely speaks above a whisper. Like she's afraid to tell her story too loud. "We were both athletes. Not roommates, but we lived really close. I was a boeuf-in-training."

Pyrrha was beginning to remember. The energetic girl with blonde pigtails jumping rope with the other girls, the big gap toothed smile she would flash her way every time they passed in the hall, the orange flower print pajamas she wore every night since childhood. "Freesia! Ah, yes. I remember now!" A smile stretched across her tan features. "Yeah? It's okay if you didn't, you've been pretty preoccupied these past few weeks. With your ankle and all." Her mood sunk once more. No matter how happy she was to have a conversation partner, they were both still on their way to certain doom.

"Sorry, that probably wasn't right to say. That's kinda why I'm on this bus. Not too good at saying good things at good times. 'M really good at being wrong, yknow?" Freesia chuckled. "Like evaluations. Everyone thinks I tripped that kid so I could get a better placing. Why would I do that? I'm already plenty fast! I don't need to cheat to do good! Didn't even matter anyways, I flubbed the shooting portion. And here we are." Freesia wasn't a top athlete by any means. She was full of energy and was incredibly strong. Sometimes all of that energy worked against her. She ran too hard and hit empty too fast. A folly that proved to be fatal in the end. 

"At least I got you here. The invincible girl is my seat partner on the way to oblivion. I feel awful special." 

"Don't say that. There's nothing special about sitting next to me." They spend the ride chatting idly about everything except their fate. Little jokes passed to keep the world from closing in around them and suffocating them on it's toxicity. The bus drives towards Atlas at a steady, even pace. Until it doesn't. "Why are we slowing down?" One of the failed musicians from the front squawked nervously. "Seems to be a block up ahead. Must've been an accident." The driver leans closer to the window as they approach the scene. Several cars were stalled and people were flowing out of them to gawk at the overturned Juvey car lying in a clearing off the side of the road. "Holy shit..." The bus crawled to a stop and the driver threw open the doors. He clambered out and rushed to the side of the bloodied man lying by the car. Two darts stuck out of each leg. "Oh my God, look at that." Kids were out of their seats and pressed against the window in seconds. Nosy, even on death's door.

It's times like these when opportunity likes to reveal itself. All eyes were on the carnage and they clamor they created was enough to spark a plan into action in Pyrrha's mind. She didn't have to sit and wait, especially since ambulances and cop cars would soon be swarming the area. They would be stuck here for the time being. Well, the others would be. She had chosen to sit next to the emergency exit for a reason, she just never thought the chance would arise.

While everyone was distracted, she slowly placed her hand on the door and gently pushed. With some effort it popped open. "Pyrrha?" Freesia kept her voice hushed, barely audible over the sound of excited and disgusted chatter. Pyrrha tapped a finer to her lips. This wouldn't work if she was caught. The door miraculously creaked very little as the opening widened more and more, enough for her to slip out and onto the road. Boots hit asphalt. She had done it. Step one was complete without a hitch. "Pyrrha, what are you doing?" Freesia now sat half way leaning out of the bus. Looking in her eyes, Pyrrha knew she couldn't just abandon her. Not here knew friend. "Come with me. We can make it if we go now."

"Are you insane? Reinforcement will be here to get the cop out there, we'll be caught in seconds."

"No. We won't. We are Staho's top track star and boeuf-in-training. Not only can we make it out of here, we can make it to Beacon. I know we can." The other girl lit up at the mention of Beacon. It was just a rumor, but plenty of failed Staho kids spoke of it when their evaluations flopped. A safehouse for Unwinds that not even the best cops couldn't sniff out. "Do you think we'll make it?"

"I know we will." That was all that she needed to hear. Freesia launched herself out of the opening and joined Pyrrha on the street. "Next stop, Beacon?" Pyrrha laced their fingers together. "Beacon." The two snuck behind the bus and tore off into the woods hand in hand.  

* * *

 "We're here." Ruby lifts a hand to shield her eyes from the sudden light that floods into the back of the van. It's not natural light, but rather a harsh fluorescent that nearly blinds her. It makes her heart race with a mix of anticipation and fear. Ren and Nora exit first, subtly scoping out the place before Jaune exited the van as well. Ruby was quick to follow. If they trusted it, then she did too.

"This is definitely a new one...." Nora muttered to herself as the four of them followed their driver down a narrow hallway. They seemed to be in an underground parking garage, like the kind you'd find in the heart of the city. "The owner said the business is failing and there would be plenty of places to hide should it come to that. His wife just had a baby, too, so if you can find a way to work a cover into that I suggest you do."

"What kind of business do they run, exactly?" Jaune questioned. "You'll see." was the unsatisfactory response. He ushered them into an elevator, not noticing or caring about their reluctance to do so. Ruby noted how tense the older teens seemed. They had told her that they had done this countless times and that every time things had turned out okay. But she could tell that they were all just as nervous as she was. Every time must feel just like the first when your life is on the line. The only sound was the ding as they hit each floor and the gentle whir of pulleys and levers moving to help them ascend. 

Ruby thought of the last elevator she had been in. The one that took her to ICU where her father lay dying only days ago. Even though he had sent her only sister, her only friend, away forever she loved him. She sort of missed him. She mostly hoped that he would be okay once he got out of the hospital. Not just physically, but emotionally. Yang was AWOL somewhere out there (if she was even still alive) and Ruby was....well. She was about to find out.

The doors parted and jaws dropped. A lavish lobby, decorated with a distinct vintage style spread out before them. Twin staircases stretched out on either side of the elevator leading up to a landing that looked like something you would see in a castle in a movie. Crystal like chandeliers dangled from the high ceiling, a low mood light casting an ominous glow over the entire room. "A hotel?" Jaune asked. "How does this count as a safehouse?"

"It technically doesn't." The man seemed to appear out of thin air. Ruby startled and placed herself behind the driver. "Geoff Lazer. Welcome to The Hotel Austin. Safest safehouse this side of the San Marcos." The driver moved the four of them out of the elevator and into the lobby. "I'll letcha take it from here, Lazer. I got another shipment to take across town. Stay whole, kids." The elevator dinged close and the four teens were left at the mercy of the dark haired man. 

"Are you sure this is the best place for us? Juvies are in and out of these kinds of places all the time to look for AWOLS." Ren crossed his arms over his chest. The man copied his movement. "Yeah, I know. M'wife used to be one. One of the originals. We started this hotel a while ago when she was finally free. Changed our names and everything. And now we hold fuck ups like you four."

"But how do you keep us safe? Won't it be suspicious if minors have their own rooms in such a nice hotel?"

"Nope. Because you won't have your own rooms. You'll be staying in the basement. And by day, you'll be helping around the hotel. After all, your mom didn't send my beautiful niece and nephew to visit if she didn't expect me to put you to work!" Two tattooed arms wrap around Ren and Ruby. "Don't worry, the basement's real nice and we'll never make ya do shit. Plus you kinda look like me so that's a bonus."

"What about me and Nora? What's our cover?"

"My wife just had a baby. We need a nanny to help her out so she can still run maintenance and raise a baby. And then one of you can help her out with that, too." Nora and Jaune exchanged looks. Nodded. "I'll do nanny." Jaune offered. "Perfect. You all start tomorrow morning. Get a good night's sleep."

Surprisingly, hiding at the hotel was the most fun Ruby had had in a while. Even counting her life before she was a fake AWOL. During the day she and Ren alternated shifts at the counter and checked in all of the guests. The driver had been right, they were a failing business. More people checked out than came in, and most of the counter work was spent on the computer, checking in on current news and such. Nora learned how to repair pipes and replace windows while Jaune used skills the others didn't know he had to care for the newborn girl that Mr. Lazer called his pride and joy.

Ruby learned a lot about her sister. Rather, she learned what the media thought of her sister. The majority of the nation saw Yang as a menace that needed to be eliminated. Many of them agreed she should have been taken to be unwound long before her run in with the Malachite twins, and the Malachite family spared no details when demonizing her. It broke her heart. She could only hope she was okay.  

After a few days they fell into a routine. "Welcome to the Hotel Austin, best historic hotel this side of San Marcos River. Enjoy your stay." Ren's voice was monotonic, more than usual. "You getting bored, too?" He nodded. A hammer slammed head first down onto the counter, creating a small dent. Nora smiled down at them. "I think I have a solution to your problem....! Aaaafter I fix the counter." 

The name of the game is Assassin. It's particularly hard to play with only four people. Each player is given a name and an objective. Kill the person and take their name on, assuming they haven't already taken out the target. The hotel was the perfect place to play. So many rooms to hide in. So many options to make it fun. Nora distributed the names shortly before midnight. "In t minus 2 minutes, we scatter and try and assassinate each other. Last one standing at noon tomorrow is the victor! no going into occupied rooms, and no one can use the Lazer family to help. Are we clear?" The other three nod. "Alright. Ready.....set...... GO!" 

The four of them tear off in different directions. Ruby is pretty sure she sees Nora launch herself out of a window over her shoulder as she flees. Lucky for her, the name she pulled was Jaune's. This could go one of two ways. Either she would nail this and easily advance to the next round or she could get her ass absolutely kicked by Jaune of all people. 

The first kill happened at the crack of dawn. Unsurprisingly, it's from Nora. Ruby had been correct in her assumption that Nora had thrown herself out a window and climbed to the buildings roof. From there she used the skills Mrs. Lazer had taught her to access the air ducts. It was a perfect plan. Able to keep an eye on her target while her own hunter had no clue where to even start looking. It also probably helped that her assassin was Jaune. If it were Ren she wouldn't have lasted past 2 am. 

Ren never saw the attack coming. He had stationed himself at the base of the grand double staircase in the lobby. If someone tried to ambush him from any side, he would see it. At least, he thought he would. Nora crept closer to the railing, peering down on her target from above. She had plenty of experience with this scenario from her childhood. Without hesitation she vaulted over the ledge with the skill often found in Olympic acrobats. "Assassin!" An attack from above was hard to avoid, even if it wasn't coming from someone who had spent her whole life jumping from high things and screaming. Ren never stood a chance.

Jaune went down at 7 AM when he stopped for a water break. Ruby had spent most of her time hidden away on the third floor. She knew that Nora had her name and would more likely than not be hunting her like a bloodhound. She happened across her target on accident. She naturally tensed at the sound of footsteps. There were so many things it could be besides Jaune. Mr. or Mrs. Lazer, a patron of the hotel.

**_Nora._ **

The thought of the name alone sent a shudder up her spine. But for the first time in a few weeks it seemed that her luck was finally turning around. The blond haired boy trudged the length of the hallway with a half empty bottle of water he must have grabbed from their shared bedroom while hiding. He scanned the hall once, twice, then deemed it safe enough to settle down and take a long swig from the bottle. Big mistake. 

Ruby was small. It had given her the advantage she needed to hide behind the potted plant placed in the corner near the elevator. Her little feet barely made a sound as she crept closer and closer to her prey, oblivious and innocent. Tiny hands latched onto his ankles and with a surprising strength she yanked him onto his stomach. The bottle tumbled from his hands and the water in his mouth spewed out like a sprinkler. "Assassin!" 

"No way! How are you so strong, you little sneak!" Ruby stuck her tongue out at him. "Woman's secret!" She reached into his pocket and retrieved the slip of paper. "Jokes on you, there's only one name left now." She knew who it was before she even unfolded it. The ultimate showdown would commence. 

They met in the lobby at 11:30. "Okay," Ren began, "the two of you have a half an hour to eliminate your target. If neither of you can complete the task, you both lose. Winner gets to choose the losers punishment. Are you two ready?"

"I was born ready!" Nora said with a crack of her knuckles. "Ruby?"

"As I'll ever be!" Her hands were clenched in tiny fists. "Alright. Ready....set...." Both girls were gone before 'go'.

Mr. Lazer clapped his hands on the boys' shoulders. "You two wouldn't happen to know why own of our guests reported screaming from the third floor earlier today, would you?"

* * *

_When my son was convicted of a DUI, I thought my only solution was sending him into a divided state. It would be safer for him and the other children in our neighborhood. Sadly, with the Cap17 bill being put in motion, my son will be officially too old to be legally unwound. And not just in Texas, all over the United States. That means that my son and unruly kids like him can all but get away with their violent acts._

_Many of the so-called "rebel" groups are also made up of teens ages 13 to 17. With Cap17, Juvey-Cops could not bring these terrorists down and protect our camps and our children._

_So this election season, vote NO on Cap17._

_**Paid for by MAUVE (Moms Against Unruly and Violent Energies)** _

* * *

"So was that place Beacon?" They were back on a bus, this time heading to the suburbs. Blake had been even more tense than ever before after their trip to the ex-safehouse. "No. Not even close." All of her answers had been in that same, clipped tone. She was thinking. Plotting. They would need to stop in nearly a half an hour to find the hidden stash that he had shown her a few months ago. Then they needed to restock on money and maybe snag a new card. Yang's uncle had held up his end of the bargain and they hadn't seen any Juvy action for hours. That was a miracle, considering how busy this side of town could be around Easter, even when there wasn't an AWOL on the loose. 

"Then what was that place?"

"A branch. Called it Signal." A small pout graced Yang's lips. She didn't fully grasp the gravity of the situation. She was still fresh. If Blake could succeed in her objective, Yang might never have to experience the kind of stress and fear that was crushing down on her like a 10 ton weight. Although, she did seem like the kind to get attached easily. Now that would absolutely get her killed. The bus was moving to fast. Or was she just zoning out and missing bits of time? Either way, it looked like their stop was coming up sooner than she thought. She began repacking their bag, stowing the note from the warehouse in her coat pocket.

"Are there a lot of branches?" Blake repressed an exasperated sigh. "Yes. Thousands. And not just here, all over the country. But the main few were we did a lot of planning and storage are Beacon, Haven, and Shade. Signal was a smaller branch that mostly held the older ones like us. We would move supplies to be shipped to other houses like Sanctum, Vale, Mistral, Patch, Menagerie. And previously, Signal."

"What happened there?"

"Judging by the note, they were raided. Someone sold them out and they were stormed. I don't know if it was pirates or Juvies but either way they were screwed."

"Pirates?" People were probably staring. Their stop was in just a few minutes. Blake stood and pulled the string. Yang followed her lead. "I can tell you more when we get where we're going. Remember your rules."

"Isn't one of the rules to stay out of highly populated areas?"

"Yes. But we have something to take care of here. But remember the last rule. Keep your guard up." The bus lurched to a stop and eyes followed them off the bus and into the suburb. Yang took the initiative and once again laced their fingers together. When Blake shot her a questioning look, she simply shrugged. "Feels natural. I can stop." She moved to pull her fingers away and the grip tightened. "No. It's fine. Come on."

The two take a short trip, maybe two or three blocks away from the stop. Blake keeps looking around, like she's expecting someone to pop out at her. After what happened with Uncle Qrow it made sense the be tense about that. "We have a couple of stops, actually. The first one slipped my mind." Suddenly Blake turns on her toe and tugged Yang around with her. They back track to the bus stop and make a sharp right turn.

"Whoa, B! You are on a mission!" Of course she is. A safehouse was raided. Kids were taken and some of them could be being unwound at this very moment. If one as big as Signal had gotten taken down, then she had to be sure to check every possible stop she could hit on the way to Beacon. "There it is. Just up ahead."

The sign reads "Tukson's Bookstore: Every book under the sun."

"I know the owner. He's...well he's my Qrow."

"A lovable drunk?"

"My uncle." Yang nodded. They get closer and closer until the store comes completely into focus. "That's weird. The windows are closed but I know he's open." Blake tugged her even closer, right up to the front door. "Blake...." The girl is silent. She gripped the handle but doesn't push the door open right away. She's hesitating. Why on Earth is she hesitating. Why is the air so thick? 

What is that smell?  

"Uncle Tuk? It's me! I'm coming in!" The hand on the door finally pushed in and the door swings open. The smell is strong, suffocating. Yang uses her free hand to cover the lower half of her face. "B.....I think we need to get out of here." Blake released Yang's hand and tears into the darkened stores. This is the first time Yang realizes that her traveling companion fears neither God nor death.

And then she's able to pinpoint the smell.

She's smelled it before. Her Dad had taken her to visit his mother in the hospital. She had been dying for a long while before her hospitalization. Yang had been in the room when she passed. They hadn't realized it for maybe a few minutes before the heart monitor flatline finally hit her ears. Taiyang ran off to tell a doctor and left her all alone in the room with the corpse. He would have never done it if it hadn't been so frazzled by his mother's passing. She remembered staring at the body until the doctors and nurses came in and whisked away the remains. Taiyang had scooped her up and held her so close that she thought he was going to pop her. Doctor's said that if she had just let them give her an unwinds heart she would have made it.

A scream pulled her out of her memory. Legs move before she knows she's moving and suddenly she's inside. The smell is intoxicating. Brains and blood coat the wall and the door behind the counter has been brutally kicked to splinters. Blake is slumped against the counter. She's staring wide eyed at the mutilated body of what must've been her uncle. He's been dead for nearly a week. How no one noticed by now is a mystery. Almost as mysterious as who would have done it.

"They're all gone." Her voice is barely a whisper. "They killed him and took his kids. All of them. Gone." Yang moved closer and reached out to her partner. Blake swatted away her hands. She needed time to process.

Someone murdered her uncle. Someone stole every single AWOL he had under his protection. "There's only one person who could have done this. Only one person this sick...." Blake wants nothing more than to curl in on herself. To vanish from the world that stole one of her only strongholds left in her life and left him to rot in a pool of his own blood. She can't. "We have to go."

"What?"

"We have to go now. The next stop, right now." She pulled herself to her feet, wobbly but still standing. She swiped tears from her eyes and reclaims Yang's hand. Yang yelped. "Shouldn't we do something about this?! Call the cops or something?!" 

"We will once we check the other location. Don't touch anything." Her grip is even tighter than it's ever been before. Blake nearly yanks her arm from her socket with the force she's using to tow her out of the desecrated store and back into the sun. They run this time, back the way they were heading before. If Yang could see her face she would see sheer panic in her eyes. Absolute terror. Tukson was dead. The kids were gone. But the note. The note was a sign that it was alright. It had to be alright. They had to be alright. 

The pair screech to a stop in front of another quaint looking store front. She doesn't hesitate to open the door this time. The scene they are met with somehow stresses Yang out more than the bookstore. Several pairs of eyes turn and train on them, soft jazz wafts through the sound system, the scent of freshly ground coffee beans fill the air. Blake's flustered appearance contrasts starkly with the soothing aura of the coffee shop. 

"Hey, you can't just barge in here!" A stern voice called from behind the counter. The barista leans over the counter and light shines off of her designer glasses. She gasps and her face turns from stern and unimpressed to absolutely delighted. "Yo, no way! Hey, Vel! B's here!" The smile widens as she locks eyes with Yang. "And she's brought a FRIEND!" 

Blake physically feels a bit of the weight fall off her chest. Coco leaps over the counter and approached them with open arms. "Good to see you, babes!" She hugged Blake tight, surprising Yang. Another woman emerged from the back room at an incredible speed. "Blakey! It's so good to see you!" 

"Velvet. I need to talk to you two." She looks around at all the customers. "In private." Coco nods. Motions for them to follow her. They all disappear into the back room. It's like the one in Tukson's store. Holds a few bags of beans and other coffee creation necessities. Under a hatch in the floor there is a secret basement. Perfect for hiding their cargo before it ships off to another store. Now it's empty, but this time on purpose. "I don't think I understand. Where the hell are we?" 

"Well Yang, I told you I would tell you everything. I'll start with this. This is a safehouse. Welcome to CFVY House." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i listened to the animal crossing soundtrack while writing this : )


	11. Tooth and nail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is fighting something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> asdfjkl THIS CHAPTER IS OVER 10K OUT OF SPITE
> 
> so like i honestly dont know what im doing????? lol  
> I have certain plots set up in my head but i have no way of getting them from point a to point b and then to the true ending so thats why everything is so....whats the word....bad???? bad
> 
> also like thank you all for reading this?? and like being invested in the plot? thats so wild

"I'm just saying ice blue isn't my color." Weiss has half the mind to tighten her grip on Sun's foot and twist with all her might. "I am doing you a favor from the goodness in my heart and this is how you repay me? Complaints on color palate?" Besides, she had already painted half of his toes in her signature icy blue shade. There was really no going back. The two are lounging on her bed, Weiss leaning against her vast collection of pillows and Sun positioned awkwardly at the foot of the bed. 

"If it makes you feel any better, you can pick my color. Any color you want and I'll-"

"Black and yellow."

"Not those colors." Sun wiggled his toes in protest. "You never let me do anything fun, Princess."  Weiss rebuffed his wiggling appendages by smearing the cold fluid across the sole of his foot. Sun bit into his arm to muffle a shriek at the sudden chill. She smirked. This is what she imagined sleepovers were like. Just friends having fun, doing trivial activities for no reason other than the fact that they wanted to. Most sleepovers probably didn't include AWOL unwindees who had basically threatened her into letting them into her home, but not everything could be absolutely perfect. That was a concept Weiss was beginning to understand. 

In the month that Sun had been staying with her, she had learned a few things about the world outside these frozen walls. From what little bits and pieces Sun had shared with her about his life, she came to understand that parents could do much worse things than ignore you.

"Not that that isn't just as awful." he had said, "But at least you never have to worry about them having you unwound." Unwinding one of their children would no doubt put a blemish on the already skewed family name. It would be the headline of surrounding papers for weeks. The Schnees would never be able to live something like that down. So they never did it.   

"It really hurts, y'know? You trust them literally all your life and then they go behind your back and sell you for scrap. Like a toaster oven they never wanted." Weiss had, against her conscious screaming at her not to, wrapped her arms around Sun's shoulder and gave him a brief hug. She didn't understand how he was feeling and she wasn't all to certain on exactly what a toaster oven was but she knew that his parents had hurt him. He had developed a distrust for authority and that had led him down a twisted path that apparently ended in Weiss' closet. 

Another thing she had learned was to accept how...human the AWOL boy seemed. Especially in moments like this. When he smiles up at her she doesn't find herself choking down the urge to run for a butler and reporting both of them. When they sit side by side and learn new words and share the details of their lives thoughts of how easy it would be to have her sister send someone to get him and take him away no longer float to the surface of her mind. They are still there, of course. She still feels disdain when she looks at the mass of degenerates huddled behind the wire fence in her backyard. In her mind, Sun is no longer one of them. There are Unwinds and AWOLS and then there was Sun Wukong. 

And when a sudden knock on her bedroom door interrupted their painting session, she remembered how to be light on her feet and zip into position. Years of fencing and dodging her parents in the halls had taught her how to move swiftly and silently, and living as a fugitive had done the same for Sun. The two moved like ninjas into their respective positions and a quiet voice called for Weiss through the door.

Klein stood outside posed like every other butler would be. It was clear that this was not a courteous visit, but an important message from her father. "Miss Schnee. The master of the house would like me to inform you that he and your mother are attending a show this evening. Master Whitley will also be out of the house as he has a sleepover with a few friends from the academy." 

So she would have the house to herself this evening. "Oh. Thank you, Klein. Is there anything else?" Klein smiled a bright genuine smile. His smile was the only real one in her life and it always brought her deep comforts. "Nothing else. Unless you would like me to bring your guest something to eat as well." Except for right now. Now that genuine real smile was a sign that she had been caught. How on Earth did she think she could keep this a secret from the only man in the manor that understood her and all of her subtle little ticks and tells. He had probably solved this weeks ago when Sun first started staying in her room. 

Her mouth was agape and her voice unable to form any excuse to try and save themselves from further punishment. And Klein keeps smiling. "Weiss, you know I'm not going to tell. Any secret kept between the two of us stays between the two of us. Or...the three of us." Her closet door creaked behind her and a bit of blond poked out. Weiss turned back and nodded to him. It was safe. She trusted her favorite butler wholeheartedly. 

"Thank you, Klein. I really appreciate this. If there is anything I can do for you to thank you-"

"Nonsense. I'm simply doing my job being one hell of a butler." Sun finally came to join Weiss at the door, hanging back a bit. He still looked nervous, like he was going to launch into a run and charge the large window for escape any second now. One hand grasped Weiss' wrist like a vice. "Perhaps your guest would like to dine in the kitchen tonight instead of your closet floor. I'm making soup."

"I think perhaps a tour is in order first. A little stretch of the legs?" Sun was practically glowing with excitement. "Ever seen the grand hall of a genuine manor before?"

There is a scene in an old movie where the main character slides onto the screen in nothing but his socks, a white button up, sunglasses, and his underwear while an equally old song blasts through the speakers. While that isn't quite what they're doing, the mood is the same on many levels. Sun has ditched the grimy clothing he'd been wearing for the past few weeks and donned one of Klein's old t-shirts and a baggy pair of shorts from Whitley's room and he couldn't look more ecstatic. For the first time since she was a child the manor halls are filled with laughter and the sound of feet rushing from room to room. 

"Come on, Ice Queen! I thought you were supposed to be leading the tour!" 

"I'd like to see you try and run in this dress!"

"Is that a challenge?" 

They raced to the stair case, where he took a running leap and latched onto the banister, whooping and laughing as he slid down in a way that could only be described as graceful. This action took Weiss by surprise, losing her lead in their little race. She would not, no,  _could **not**_ be bested in her own home by an AWOL. She ran down the stairs instead, still very careful in her execution. She had fallen down these stairs before as a child and that wasn't a memory she wanted to recreate. At the third to last step she threw all caution to the wind and jumped into the air, landing on her feet in a graceful, ice skating-esque pose.

"Nice execution. Slow as shit, but props for the fancy pose." Despite all her efforts, she had been bested. "Don't get too cocky. I'll just beat you next time." Assuming there was a next time. Through all of the fun they were having, a part of her mind was still on edge. They could still be caught, if not tonight then sometime in the future. It was nagging at her like her father and her stomach bubbled with anxiety at every creak of the floorboards or shuffle of fabric.

Luckily the kitchen was more secluded. Klein's cooking, as usual, was divine. The unique and incredible flavors of the meal almost made her forget how sloppily Sun was eating. Almost. Even though he probably didn't grow up learning the proper etiquette for fine dining and running from the juvey authority did nothing to right that wrong either. She couldn't imagine how Winter dealt with loud slurps and messy mouths on every single Unwind in Atlas every meal time.

This was how all Unwinds dined, right? I mean, it's not like rich kids ever get unwound. It would be unheard of. An heir's parts being detached and dispensed alongside the parts of a lowly StaHo kid who hadn't made the cut that month would cause uproar and panic. It meant that even the elite had problems, or at least ones they couldn't hide. It meant that money really truly meant nothing when it came to behavior and that was something rich people just couldn't cope with. They usually liked to believe they were above the law and that Bredly and Amaandilia could do whatever their spoiled hearts desired and not face the consequences a child from the poorer parts of cities would. It was what Whitley relied on. Hell, it was a crutch that even Weiss found herself leaning on sometimes. That crutch would keep her head above water if or  _when_ Sun was caught.

"I had a lot of fun tonight." She snapped back to the present and stopped staring blankly into her soup to face the stowaway. "Well, there's still a lot we could do, you know. There's the library, the study, and even though it's dark we could go out into the garden." Sun pulled his lips into an unimpressed line.

"If that's your idea of fun then it turns out you might have needed me more than I need you. I mean, you have this-" he threw his arms out in a wide arc "-all to yourself! For an nondescript amount of time! You can do anything! Run around and yell at the top of your lungs! Throw shit! Slide down banisters! There is an entire mansion of possibilities here and you want to go squint at daisies in the dark? Who raised you, a dictionary?"

 _"A drunk and a dictator, actually."_ She thought bitterly. But he had brought up several good points. Was it possible that she had wasted nearly 17 years of her life having fun by doing things she wanted to do or things that her father had told her were fun? Well....fencing was rather fun, as well as ice skating lessons and even singing when she didn't have to do so for events. But did she really even believe that or was she taught from a young age that she was supposed to like those things?

"I'm just saying, maybe tonight is the night you finally live a little." Weisss scooted away from the kitchen counter and stood to her full heiress height. "You're right. Tonight's the night for breaking rules. And I know which one to start with."

The Schnee manor was expertly sculpted by some of the state's best architects and elaborately decorated to resemble structures like the White House with large columns and a nearly identical roof. A small fence came up to Weiss' waist, perfect for leaning over. Sun had chosen to settle against one of the sturdy twin chimneys, the perfect place to observe the stars. In the city where he had grown up, he never saw the stars. The lights were always too bright. But now the only lights to be seen besides the moon was the dull glow of the manor below and the camp just across the fence.

"What's it like? Seeing all of those kids over there every day?" Weiss drummed her fingers on the railing while she thought. Honestly, she never really thought about them too much. With new unwinds being moved in and out so often she never really saw the same face twice, and it wasn't as if she was spending copious amounts of time staring at them anyways. "It's not fun. I wish we could have built the manor elsewhere."

"I wish they had built the camp somewhere else. Or better yet, not at all." The Schnee family had a prepared speech for when people and protesters came to their door. The speech detailed that the camp was a financial miracle that not only supplied parts but plenty of jobs for doctors, guards, and scientists alike. That they had built their home and business so close for convenience and nothing else. Something told her that Sun would not be placated by the speech like others were in the past. So she decided it was easier to change the subject than to try and convince him.

"Where will you go when you turn 18?"

"Away from here. Away from Texas and America. Maybe I'll go to China or something. Get my operations finished and start living again." In the back of her mind Weiss knew that parts from an unwind could supply Sun with the parts he needed for those operations. If he wasn't one of them himself he would have probably already had those done. "Do you think they'll let you leave the country? You're not....you don't really.... _count_ as a human anymore."

"Then I'll get on a boat and sail away. By the time they realize I'm onboard I'll be running off the ship and onto a brand new land. One without unwinding."

Several countries had followed America's lead after the war. Japan was the first and was already catching up to their numbers after only a few short years. Thailand and Laos hadn't officially passed the laws, but there were rumors of underground parts pirate rings that picked up runaways and poorer children off the streets of Bangkok. In fact, a majority of the countries that hadn't passed the laws had rings like that, but those two were probably the most popular rumors. At this point in time there was nearly no countries that were 100% free of unwinding.

This time Sun was the one changing the subject. "So, the security over there is really tight, huh?" Weiss followed his extended arm to one of the guard towers that bordered the camp. Even in the darkness they could see the outlines of patrolmen at their stations. "Of course. What they contain in there is worth more than nearly everything within a one hundred mile radius. The unwindees and the documents. Did you know that the scientists study each and every body they dismantle so we know what kinds of blood and organ anomalies that the human body can be affected by? All of that information could save thousands of lives."

"So they need those search lights to make sure the documents don't run away?" 

"Search lights?" As if on queue, bright white light flooded over the roof top. She threw up her arm to shield her eyes from the now retreating beam. Oh no. Did another unwind escape? Was it a clapper? She pushed herself up onto the ledge to try and see the dark ground better. But the lights weren't dancing across the ground. There was some frantic shouting but not the kind that she's used to. With clappers, everyone was involved. Even Ironwood would be on the scene seeing over the takedown. But now there was no one. No frazzled staff, no fleeing teen, no cheering or screaming. Nothing but the lights that kept sweeping over the house. 

Then it clicked when the light settled on her once again and stuck there. The middle Schnee child, the quietest and most secluded of the three, leaning over the railing of the manor roof. Supposedly all by herself. Now she could see something moving in the yard down below. A very familiar figure racing towards the fence, frazzled and determined to climb the fence for quicker access. 

"We have to get inside. Now now now!" Her feet tangled together and threw her to the ground as she struggled to back away from the edge as quickly as possible. Sun was already executing an escape plan with the usual stealth he carried himself with. If they didn't make it inside before Winter got to the gate then there was no doubt they would be caught and tonight would be their last night living the lives they knew.

* * *

 "What is this?" 

"Blue."

"And this?"

"Beige."

"Good. And this?" Winter guided the rewind's hand to her tight bun. Mismatched eyes blinked a few times. "White." 

"Very good, Penny." She quickly scribbled down a few notes, mostly detailing how quickly the experiment was adapting and learning. It had breezed through basic memorization and was taking to colors like a fish to water. "At this rate Ironwood will be teaching you to shoot in a weeks time." The sound of rapid footsteps falling on the polished floor came towards her. "Ms. Schnee-"

"Doctor. I assume you're here for the results? We just got done and she's excelling at just about everything." Winter made quick work of collecting her papers and with a final pat to the rewind's head she turned to hand over her work to the doctor. "Th-that's very nice, Ms. Schnee. But I'm afraid that is not why I came down here." It is only now that Winter notices the panicked look on his face. "What's wrong? Is it something with one of the patients? Another clapper?"

"Ms. Schnee, listen. It's not any of that. It's your sister. A patrolman spotted her on the manor's roof." 

Time rarely went slow at Atlas. There was no downtime between unwinding operations and experimenting with the rewind and training young Juvies. Winter would often glance at the clock and find it three hours later than she had thought. Now as she shoved past the doctor and rushed towards the exit, she couldn't move fast enough. From the moment she began her training away from home she worried for her sister. Weiss was always quiet and secluded, aimed to please but never seemed to reach it. She didn't believe her sister would ever actually do it, but over the years she came to learn that her siblings would always surprise her. 

Her heels caught in the divots that constant foot traffic had worn in the dirt as she ran with only the occasional light from the guard tower to guide her. A light had anchored on her little sister, half way hoisted over the railing. Running around to the front would take too long, she would never be able to reach her in time. She would have to scale the fence. She flung her shoes off into the night, speed and determination increasing with each step. "Weiss! Weiss, stay where you are!"

Naturally, her sister either didn't hear her or heard her perfectly and decided to defy her yet again. White hair disappeared and she fell back from the railing and supposedly rushed back into the house. "Damn!" A few of the guards and Juvies ran up behind her, tranq guns ready to fire. "Ms. Schnee, what's going on? The General sent us for backup."

"I've got this under control." The metallic chain link bit into her palms and threatened to tear through her nylon stockings with every step she took up the obstacle. "But the General-" The young Juvey had never seen so much fury in a woman's eyes than when Winter Schnee snapped her head around, half hanging off of the one thing between her and her young sister, and snarled "I do not need guns and force to discipline my sister. Now if you'll excuse me, you are wasting my precious time." Without another word she scaled the fence and leapt from the top, barely stopping to regain composure before rushing the manor and bursting through the patio door. 

"Weiss Kara Schnee!" Her shout echoed off of the empty walls and bounced back at her. The echo only magnified the anger and muffled panic in her cry. If she hadn't discarded her heels for a swifter entrance the cold click against the tiled floor would have emphasized the determination in each step. Weiss had gone back inside. Weiss was safe and she was relieved. But she was also fuming. The fact that Weiss was now safe only made the urge to strangle her sister for her behavior even stronger.

"Weiss!" The muffled sound of feet rushing across the carpeted hallway at the top of the grand staircase. She was met halfway by her incredibly flustered sibling. She opened her mouth, most likely to apologize, but Winter would not allow it. Not until she gave her the proper tongue lashing.

"Do you have any idea what kind of panic you've caused?! The chaos?! Several armed Juvies, certified and in training, approached me and offered to have you tranquilized! Do you have any idea how damaging that could be for the Schnee name to have one of their own tranquilized by their own product?! And another thing! You-" 

Weiss had seemed to shrink farther into herself with every word. She knew what she had done was wrong, and she was clearly very sorry for it. Yelling was only going to make it worse. Had she been anymore like her paternal figure, she might have continued anyways. "You are lucky that Father wasn't home."

"Please don't tell him." Her younger sister's voice quivered as she spoke. 

"I won't. As long as you promise not to do something like that ever again. In fact, as of tonight, consider the roof off limits." She nodded obediently. Winter rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Forgiveness. 

Understanding. 

"Now, how about I ask Klein to fix us up a cup of coffee and you can tell me just what you thought you were doing up there, young lady." As the pair descended stairs Winter could have sworn she heard one of the many doors just up the stairs creaking and clicking shut. "Is Whitley home?" 

"I-I don't think so. It, uh, must have been another one of the butlers. Now that all of that drama is done, they're probably getting back to cleaning and....what not! Come on, the coffee won't be hot forever!" Her voice still quivered when she talked, but she chalked up to left over fear from her stern lecture. 

"You're right. Let's get going then."

* * *

 "We're here for the pick up." The owner looked up from her paper work. "You're not the usual guy."

"We're changing things up a bit. So they won't get suspicious, you know." The redheaded man smirked and slid the sheet towards her. A quick glance over it confirmed that everything was in order and he was indeed a new driver. "Sorry. You understand why we have to be cautious. Precious cargo and all. "Of course. I'll have my assistant retrieve the shipment while I bring the van around to the back." The shorter woman seemed to appear out of thin air from behind her boss. Her bright smile and pristine white dry cleaners uniform gave off a strangely unsettling aura. Before she could protest and go to retrieve it herself the mysterious woman had breezed past her and was already pulling open the secret hatch. It was as if she was nothing more than a spirit or a wisp of wind in human form with how silently she moved.

One by one the children poured out of the hatch, blinking in the bright light. "Alright everyone. Remember the protocol and follow Miss...." She paused to let the woman introduce herself but was met with eerie silence. "Follow the lady and her boss' orders. They have your best interests in mind and you will be safe." The woman nodded in agreement and motioned for the group to follow her out the employee entrance and into the alley where a van marked with the company logo idled. 

The driver smiled that sly smile once more. "Kind of a fresh crop, huh?"

"Yeah. It's like they get younger and younger every time. See that one?" She pointed to the smallest of the bunch, clad in filthy tattered clothing that seemed to have been white and crisp at one point. "An ex-tithe. Not even 13 yet. He ran away and entered himself into the system after that bombing at the tithe rec center a couple weeks ago. Really spooked him." 

One by one they stepped into the van, sandwiching themselves between garment bags and laundry baskets. If push came to shove they could hide themselves within them and hope and pray that any suspicious cops wouldn't poke around too hard. The kind woman who had protected them for the past two weeks leaned against the van's opening and sighed. "Be safe. Be sure to write when you make it to Beacon."

"We will, Miss Zech." The eldest of the group, a girl just on the verge of 16 with stringy hair and chronic acne reached out and squeezed her hand. Even at so young she had almost taken on a motherly roll over the younger AWOLs. It broke her heart to see how mature these children had to become because society decided they weren't worth the trouble they caused. "Wrap up the pity party, kids, we got a schedule to keep." The driver growled. 

"Be safe." She repeated one final time before shutting the back doors. She barely managed to step back in time to avoid the plume of exhaust that shot out from the tail pipe as the van sped off and hauled her children away once and for all. "Be safe." She muttered to herself. It was more of a pray than a request. 

"Uuuuughh. If I hate anything the most with this job, it's clingy housemothers." Roman yanked off the cheesy counter boy style hat he had donned for the uniform and flung it into the back, quickly replacing it with his signature bowler cap. Neo did the same in the passengers seat, releasing the tight bun she had pulled her hair into to seem more professional. "Okay, kiddos! Settle in tight, we're going to be taking a bit of a detour!" 

The real driver had a map and several other amenities on his person that the pair had nabbed when they ambushed him. Sadly, it seemed that their expert pickpocketing was all for naught. Roman completely ignored the directions and pulled a hard right. He also ignored the startled yelps and dull thuds of the children hitting the sides of the van. "Send her the conformation message, will you Neo?" 

Another turn taken too hard followed by another collective shout of shock. "Are you crazy?! You're driving like a mad man!" The stringy haired girl hollered. Roman guffawed. "Don't you kids know how to live? It's all fun and games until one of you bitches and moans! Or is it break a bone?" Neo shrugged, tapping out the message on Roman's phone. "Ooh! Yellow light!" He slammed his foot down onto the gas and the van zipped through the light barely in time to avoid oncoming traffic. He's sure he hears one of the younger children start to cry. 

"Is this your first day or something?"

"What gave it away? The bad driving or the fact that I introduced myself as a new driver?" Silence. "Well I guess you weren't there for that part." 

"If you don't slow down then you're going to get pulled over!" 

"Sorry, officer! Veeeeerry important laundry emergency. Some broad needs her Tuesday evening gown pronto!" 

"You're a maniac!" Another peal of laughter left his lips. They whizzed through another red light. The crying child was bordering on full on sobbing at this point. It was beginning to grate on his already on-edge nerves. "Somebody shut him up!" The final word was emphasized by the sudden and rough stop they screeched into. The sound of skin smacking against leather filled the van and was followed by a muffled wail. "My nose is bleeding!" 

"Oh Jesus Christ...." He whipped around to face the cargo. All of the children were gathering around the ex-tithe, who was indeed bleeding, which only added to the stains on his old tithing whites. "What is the matter with you?!" The oldest girl began to rise to her feet only to be knocked back down by the sudden acceleration. "You should be thanking me! If it's broken then you won't be unwound until it's fixed!" The crowd is rocked into a shocked silence. 

"We won't be unwound anyways. That's the whole point of the system. Right?" A mousy kid with thin fingers that honestly give Roman the creeps whines. He grits his teeth and accelerates a bit to merge out of the residential streets and onto the open freeway. "Right?!"

"Well it was a good run for a while there. Kids, it's time I teach you about the system. It takes doe eyed little shits like you and screws them over beyond saving! Every system! Unwinding, schools. And yes, even safehouse systems have their flaws. After all, we were able to crack into it pretty easily, weren't we Neo? Speaking of, did she get the message." His partner nodded happily. "Perfect." 

They rode in tense silence for several long miles before they finally reached an exit where they pulled off. After a few moments the van stalled. There were no other cars in sight. In fact the entire area looked desolate and abandoned. "It's really been fun listening to you all complain about every single thing you can possibly find to complain about, but I'm afraid that's all over now." Neo slid out of her seat and made her way to the back of the van. A few of the children barely managed to contain their screams as she flung open the back end. "What's going on?!"

Neo's multicolored eyes flashed menacingly as she leveled the gun and fired. The stringy haired girl went down first, followed by the tithe and the mousy boy before she paused to reload. When all of the cargo had been efficiently silenced she slammed the door and cheerfully returned to the front. "Finally. Peace and quiet. Enjoy your nap, kiddos." The van roared back to life and pulled away, heading back towards the freeway. "Cinder better pay big for this bunch. Extra to get the blood out of the seats."

* * *

**_WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HARVEST CAMPS AND PART PIRATING?_ **

_Harvest camps are dedicated to easing their patients into a divided state in the most comfortable and ethical ways possible. In a divided state, the "soul" is still technically in tact, keeping the patient alive even after their parts are separated. All parts collected at harvest camps are distributed nationwide to hospitals and are given to those in need of everything from organ transplants to skin grafts. Every day parts from our camps are saving lives._

_Parts pirates are the polar opposite of harvest camps. All of the "unwinds" taken in by these criminals are kidnapped, often times taken from ambushed Juvey-Cops or even State Home buses on their way to their designated camps. Sometimes they will even pick up runaway teenagers or steal younger children off of the street. To a parts pirate, it doesn't matter whether or not their victims are due to be unwound or not. Their only goal is money._

_Instead of state of the art technology and anesthetics, victims are often taken apart while fully conscious. They are also not properly lead into a divided state. 100 percent of parts pirate "unwindings" are fatal. Instead of sending their stolen parts to hospitals in need, they are often sold off to wealthy people in countries where unwinding is not a legal and commonly recognized practice. Some online rumors state that some parts are even auctioned off and sold as food to certain communities. While there is no conformation for this claim, anything is possible when you allow your child to fall into the wrong hands.  
_

_SPONSOR YOUR LOCAL HARVEST CAMPS THIS EASTER SEASON BY DONATING. CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR FURTHER DETAILS_

_Paid for by the Harvest Association and Recovery Membership ( **HARM).**_

* * *

The elevator ride up to Taiyang's room is always stressful for him. Sure, they grew up together, but their relationship had been under some strain ever since Raven's abandonment. Regardless, they were like family, and family went to visit one another in the hospital when they could. Qrow took a long swig from his flask and quickly stowed it away before another nurse could bitch at him to put it away or worse, confiscate it. He would really need it for this particular visit.

It would be his first visit since Ruby's disappearance nearly three weeks ago. As of now, he was the only person in the world who knew that she had truly dropped off the face of the planet and the only one actively searching for her. It has been a fruitless few weeks, especially when her note left no indication on where she had planned starting her search for Yang in the first place. He wasn't entirely sure she had even known where she was going. And with the rise in abductions these days he knew the chances of her being hurt or worse were very high. This was precisely the kind of stress doctors were telling Taiyang to avoid while he recovered. But it had been weeks and he deserved to know at least a little bit of what was going in the world outside his room.

"Qrow. You made it." The hoarseness in his voice catches him off guard every time. Taiyang doesn't talk to anyone other than the occasional doctor, so he supposed it was natural for it to sound like a really really rusty wheel being turned for the first time in years. Qrow shot him a finger gun and settled into the uncomfortable plastic covered arm chair stationed next to the bed. "What's new with you, old timer?"

"They're finally letting me get up to take a piss by myself. That's pretty nice." Tai shrugged as well as he could with his non damaged shoulder. "Keep insisting I just let them replace the shattered arm with a new one. I got tired of giving them a real reason so I just told 'em I didn't want to lose my tattoo." Qrow nodded. He understood how hard it must be for a professor who exclusively taught people to escort unwinds to their divided state to tell countless doctors why he personally didn't want any of the parts he had a hand in retrieving.

"Won't your arm be back in commission in a few weeks?"

"More likely than not, yes. But because there was so many fractures, major and minor, they say it will be easier. The logical part of me agrees. But...." Tai turned so he was't facing his brother-in-law. "You know. Especially since shit like that is kind of why I'm here in the first place." Oh. It had occurred to him that perhaps the reason Tai was still hospitalized and not back on his feet already had something to do with refusing parts, and he had already guessed that that could possibly be because of a little demon often referred to as guilt.

"Refusing parts won't bring her back."

"Is there any news on her?" Qrow's fingers drummed on his leg. "No. She's just like her mom, you know? MIA and really fucking good at keeping it that way." Tai let out an involuntary snort at that remark. "The Branwen-Xiao Long family: Hide and Seek Champions for 17 years running." The two share a genuine laugh. It took them years to reach the point where they could even talk about his sister, let alone joke like this. Tai's laugh faded into a forlorn sigh.

"She'll only be 17 for a few more months. What do you think she'll do after that?"

"As a JC I feel like I'm obligated to say that she won't make it that long. As your friend.....she's like her mom. But she's got a lot of you in her, too. She might come back and see you, but you know that if she does we...you would....you would have to explain everything to her. Why you let them take her, why you gave in so easily. Tai, I'm gonna tell you right now. She's not gonna love you like she used to. You'll always be her Dad, and she'll hopefully forgive you eventually. It won't be easy if she ever comes back."

"I know. I don't really expect her to."

"Come back or forgive you?"

"Yes." A dry chuckle left his throat. "I betrayed her. When she was a baby I told her I would always be there for her and I let her down. I left her alone when Summer died and I let her go without putting up a fight. I've let her down so many times I'm surprised she even stuck around long enough for me to do it again." After weeks of keeping to himself Taiyang was finally spilling the guts and gore that had been festering in his mind nonstop since the accident. "And don't even get me started on Ruby. She hasn't come to visit in a while. I can't imagine she's too happy with me right now, either." 

Qrow swallowed the lump in his throat. He had to tell him eventually. He figured that he would have more time, that they would have more pleasant conversation that he could have eased Taiyang into. But no. Just like everything else there was no easing into this. There was no sugarcoating or taking their sweet time.

"About that..."

* * *

The CFVY House cellar felt kind of like a cup of coffee. The beans they stored there invaded every crevice with the strong scent and the close quarters held in every last bit of heat. Out of all the safehouses in the area, this would probably the best place to end up. At least, that's the impression Yang got. Even the staff was polite and caring. Velvet gently placed two mugs in her and Blake's hands, a vanilla bean latte for Yang and chamomile tea for Blake. She also softly brushed Blake's bangs away from her face. It had been nearly four days and it is evident that she hasn't gotten much sleep. 

After spilling their tale, Coco had called the police and left an anonymous tip. "It would be best for you two to lay low for a while. You can stay here for the time being." Their cellar had been emptied two days prior to their arrival and the next shipment wouldn't be in for another week. Although now they were considering postponing it. "I'll just call Zech and tell her to hold on until the pigs clear out of the area. I'm sure she'll understand." 

The hardest part was watching Blake. She had just lost her uncle, her friends were no where to be found. Every part of her world had come down around her and even though she looked composed and collected on the outside Yang knew that she was collapsing just like everything else. The bags under her eyes were prominent and her hair frizzy from her constantly worrying it with her hands. Even her skin seemed to have lost the determined and fiesty glow it had held when she had met her.

"It's been too long, Vel. Please, can't you just tell me something about this? Why are you keeping me in the dark?" Velvet's hands stilled. She sighed heavily. "I'm sorry, B. It's just too dangerous right now."

"It's always going to be dangerous! We're not exactly living it up in...in Schnee Manor! Why can't you tell me where they are?"

"Because we don't know who we can trust." Yatsuhashi lowered himself into the cellar. "Don't mind me, just grabbing more beans. But keep that in mind, Blake. Not everyone is who they say they are these days. You of all people should know that." Her shoulders hunched and her lips pressed together. A light blush even bloomed on her cheeks. He had brought up a valid point.

"But the only ones here are you guys and us." Yang chimed in. Velvet and Yatsu shared a tense look. "Oh. _Oh._ I get it. Strange girl from out of no where hanging around. Uncle is a Juvey, you're not super sure I'm legit." 

"You're uncle is a Juvey?!" Blake buried her head in her hands. "Yang, I wasn't going to tell them about that." Oh shit.

"W-well I mean it's not like he knows where I am. He just told us to head to Beacon and-"

"The Juvies know about Beacon?!" Velvet looked like she was going to have a heart attack. Blake looked like she was mere seconds away from using her scarf as a makeshift gag to stem the flow of incriminating information pouring from her mouth. "Jesus. I get it even more now. You really have no reason to trust me at all." She flopped back onto the bean bags that served as their chairs and beds for the past four days with a loud groan. Blake placed a reassuring hand on her knee and patted softly. 

The basked in an uncomfortable silence. Finally Yatsuhashi spoke up. "I think I have a solution to our problem." 

And that was how Yang ended up behind the counter with Coco. "So, Yangarang, you got any experience workin' with the beans?" 

"No, not really. I know how you make instant-" Coco clutched her chest like the words had manifested a physical form and shot her. A few customers turned to stare at them when a pained wheeze left her lips and Yang worried for a minute that she might have actually just killed Coco. "That's unacceptable. Just like everything else here, the drinks served at CVFY House are carefully crafted. Artisanal." She placed a hand on her shoulder and yanked her closer. Her voice dropped to a hushed and serious tone. "Listen I really only have to show you to make like...three. The rest of the drinks are just those drinks with different syrups. Tell anyone and I'll cut your arm off." 

Yang laughed nervously. "What the fuck?"

* * *

Yatsuhashi secured the hatch behind Yang so it was just the three of them in the cellar. Velvet moved into Yang's seat, scooting it a bit closer to Blake so the two of them were knee to knee. "We're going to need to know what you know before we can give out any information."

Blake sighed. So it wasn't just Yang they were wary about. It made sense, considering her past affiliations. "I haven't heard from him in months. No contact whatsoever. I doubt he even knows where I am. So you don't have to worry about that. We, me and Yang, went by the warehouse to get some supplies and it had been nearly destroyed from the inside out. All the supplies and the kids were gone without a trace. Yang was actually the one who found the note." Blake fished the note from her bag and handed it over.

The older two scanned over it, scanning every detail. "It's Scarlet's. I recognize the way the 'S' curls and the 'C's angle." Velvet nodded.

"Definitely Scarlet. Good eye, Blake. They told us they had tried to leave a note behind for you, just in case you came back. But they weren't so sure it would be to coherent. About 15 of them came this way pretty late on what I assume is the night the raid happened." Blake sighed. They had made it here. Not all of them, but some.

"Another question." Velvet pulled her from her relief. They weren't done quite yet. "The notes is signed SSN. Just....two. Can you tell me why that is?" Her nerves moved back to their previous tense state. "That's....I..." Hands balled into fists in her lap. "Blake, you can tell us." Yatsu tried to soothe her.

"Sun wasn't at Signal. He...we..." She bit her lip and forced down the lump in her throat. "We were out on reconnaissance. Three kids left without warning and we volunteered to hunt them down to make sure they weren't gonna squeal."

"Why isn't he with you now?"

"We split up. Partially to cover more ground but also because we thought we were being followed. Either a Juvey or.....one of his men. I got picked up by a couple of Juvies trying to reach quota. Surprisingly one of the cops brought in the kids we were looking for. I managed to take him out and we all split off before I could really get too much information out of them. And that's when I met Yang." Now that she thought about it, she wondered if those three had been recaptured. It had been a few days since she thought about it. Actually....

"Those kids...they sold out Signal. Didn't they?" Velvet shrugged. "I would assume so. Might have tried bargaining for freedom by offering up an even bigger bounty, especially if they were trying to reach a quota. They probably took that information and raided Signal after they lost track of the four of you." Her heart sank. Because she ran away they went after Signal. Her friends and kids who trusted her were captured and taken and possibly killed because she ran again. 

"It's not your fault." she didn't need to voice her thoughts for Velvet to know what was racing through her head. "Not very many were taken, and Neptune told us that a few of them were close enough to 18 that if they are't unwound right off the bat then they'll-" Yatsu drew his finger over his throat. The universal sign for cut it out, Velvet, you're making it worse.

"A-anyways. Do you know where Sun is right now?" Blake shook her head. "I texted him a few times, but no answer. I don't know if he's even still alive or whole or anything. I'm sorry I let you guys down." The older two gathered her in a tight reassuring hug. 

"It's not your fault." She repeated. "You know Sun, you know that he's doing just fine. I'm sure he's at another safehouse right now just waiting to get to the next major location. I'm sure that if you stop by Menagerie in a week or two he'll be waiting there."

"What about the others? Where did you send them?" 

"They're back in the system and heading to Beacon. Well, half of them are. The others are divided into the Shade and Haven."

"Where did SSN go?"

"Haven." 

"Then I'm going to Haven." Blake pried herself out of the hug and made her way to the ladder as if she was about to walk out of the coffee shop and all the way to Haven right then and there. "Whoa whoa whoa! Wait up, what about Yang?"  _Right._ She still had Yang. 

"Her Uncle said get her to Beacon. Just put her into your next shipment and send her there. She'll only be 18 for another 9 months, anyways. I have to get back to Scarlet, Sage, and Neptune so we can go and get Sun back before it's too late. I don't think I can handle fresh meat. You can at least get her safe." While it was a heavy load on her heart to let go of the travel companion she had grown surprisingly close to, she knew it was the best course of action to take if she wanted her partner and best friend back in one piece. 

* * *

Yang had successfully survived her first (and hopefully last) rush hour. Coco hadn't lied when she said every drink was basically the same with little subtle differences. Regardless she had messed up a few times, but most patrons were quite understanding and carried on with their lives because honestly it was just a cup of coffee. 

Something told her they had planned this all along. Noise from the rush would cover up any conversation in the cellar and keep her busy enough to prevent peeping. But now everyone in the shop has settled into their laptops and books with lattes and espressos. Coco lays strewn across the counter once again in a dramatic display. "So, why'd you start this thing up?"

"Two of us are ex-UW's." Yang cringed slightly at the use of the completely made up slang Coco had chosen to use to remain secretive, even though no one could hear them at the soft volume they spoke with. "So once we turned 18 we all started raising funds and built up our shop. I wanted to do a boutique and Vel wanted to do a photography thing or something like that. We settled on a cafe 'cause Yatsu pointed out that our initials kind of looked like it could be pronounced coffee. The rest is history."

"Which one of you are the....you know?" 

"Wanna try and guess?" Yang tapped her chin. That was a real head scratcher. Not Velvet, that was for sure. If not for the innocent air she gave, she clearly wasn't American, at least not long enough to be a candidate for unwinding. "You and Yatsuhashi?" Coco laughed a bit too loudly. "Everybody guesses that! You got the first part right. It was actually me and the Foxter."

"Fox?" The secretive member of their staff kept to himself in the back most of the time. He was really quiet, had really interesting stories, and was completely blind in both eyes. He would bus tables after most of the customers had left because, as Coco would delicately put it, the many scars and milky eyes were sort of off putting at times. "But he's-"

"He wasn't always. We were Staho kids who didn't make the cut. But instead of waiting around to be hauled off we got the hell out of Dodge and hit the road. He...well I got into a fight at one of the houses we were stopped at. I said some things, they said some things. I threw a punch, Fox got between us and the other guy threw acid. It wasn't the first time he had done it, but it the first time one of us had gotten so horribly hurt. The other kid got thrown out on his ass and Fox almost did too. Now that he was disabled they legally can't unwind him. But I threatened to leave with him and I guess they thought ousting one kid was enough. So we rode the system to Beacon, that's where we met Vel and Yatsu. And-"

"The rest is history?" Coco finger gunned her. 

She hears the cellar door open once again. "You can't be serious." Velvet sounds frantic but struggled to keep her voice low. The three exited from the cellar and were gathering in the back. From the limited view she had of the kitchen area she could see Blake stuffing things into her bag.

The front door chimed and Yang's blood went cold in her veins at the sight before. Two men in freshly pressed and very distinct Juvey-Cop uniforms. Despite their sleek and clean attire, both men sported different degrees of injury. One had a large bruise across the left side of his face and the other a noticeable pock mark, much like the ones tranq darts left. This was the man she recognized. The man from the woods almost a full week ago. 

**Rule 9: Never face the Juvies head on.**

Neither of them seemed to recognize her or register how absolutely shaken she seemed as she took their orders and began crafting while keeping a wary eye on her partner. Coco has joined them, as well as Fox. It seems all of them are trying to talk Blake out of doing something.  _"What else is new?"_ Yang thought. In the five days she had known her Yang came to learn that when Blake wanted to do something she would run herself down to the bone to accomplish it. All she could do is wonder what the task was this time. 

"Order for the gentlemen in uniform!" She called cheerfully. She was good at putting forth a sunny personality, she had done it for years at school. The men retrieved their coffee and dropped in a meager tip. They were deeply engrossed in their conversation. "You hear the guy who got blasted a few blocks down was involved in the safehouse system? Apparently whoever did it cleared him out."

"So parts pirates again?" His partner nodded. "D'ya think there's any connection to that chick we bagged the other day?"

"You think she was a pirate too?"

"She looked like one. Kicked like one, too." He rubbed the bruise sadly at that. A clutter from the back draws everyone's attention. 

 _"Shit. They'll recognize Blake, she kicked their asses! And with so many cops around there's no way we could keep her safe!"_ Yang knew she had to act fast. Anything that would take the attention off of CFVY and Blake..... 

Her eyes settled on a freshly dried coffee mug.  _"Perfect."_

Yang hoisted herself onto the counter, standing tall with her already lengthy stature. A few of the patrons turned to face her, including the cops. Another crescendo of voices and movement came from the back. There was no turning back or backing out now. She raised the cup over her head. 

"WELCOME TO THE FUCK ZONE! ARE YOU ALL READY TO  _MCFREAKING LOSE IT?!_ " With a swift motion she threw the cup like a comet barreling into the Earth towards the floor where it shattered. She punctuated this moment by letting out a blood curdling shriek, one that covered the soft jazz soundtrack Velvet had set up. If there was still commotion in the back room if couldn't be heard over the scene she was currently causing. She had just retrieved a second mug when a firm hand grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her down. The grip she had on the mug dissipated and it smashed to the ground beside its fallen brother.

"What the hell is the matter with you?!" It's the cop she had shot. His partner is pulling out handcuffs and his phone to see if they can match her face to any records of known AWOLS or teens scheduled for pickups.

"Sunny! Did you do it again?!" Coco hollered. The petite woman pushed herself between the meat wall the burly men had formed around Yang and batted off her captor's hand. She had even placed herself so neither of them could clearly make out her face. "Listen, I know you like to party but this is your job now. Your Mom would be awful upset if I let my precious niece work while on narcs. Go lay down in the back until you sober up!" She all but dragged her to the door and shoved her through at the last second. Velvet and Fox quickly flanked the door and Yatsuhashi ushered the two younger girls back into the cellar with a firm finger pressed to his lips.

"Miss, are you the owne-"

"Yes. I am. Coco Adel, owner and head barista. Aspiring fashion designer. You've heard of me?"

"No, not exactly-"

"Is there something I can do for you gentlemen?" The officers towered over Coco, much closer to Yatsuhashi in size. They had never felt more small and insignificant than in this moment. "Your.....the blonde one. She smashed two of your dishes and caused a scene. You said she was high?"

"My niece, Sunny. And yes. Her mother sent her here to help her get off of it, but it seems even the best of us fall off the wagon."

"How about we take your niece back to the station with us?"

"Because she's not an Unwind." Customers are slowly packing up their belongings and migrating away from the situation.

"I'm sure that either you or her mother will have an order out on her in a few months time. Let's just cut to the chase and get it over with, yeah?"

"Sorry boys." Coco lowered her sunglasses so she could look the men dead in the eyes. "My family believes in second chances. Now if that's everything, I'll have to ask you to leave. Heard there was a murder down the way, maybe you should be working on that and not harassing my family."

* * *

 

Blake slammed her fist into a bag of beans and let out a frustrated yowl. "Are you out of your mind?! They could have caught you!"

"They could have caught you! You were all making such a big fuss back here, and if they recognized you I couldn't-!!" Yang waved her arms manically. There was no proper words for the two of them to properly vent their worries and frustrations. "What were you all even doing?! Why were you packing?"

"Because I'm leaving, Yang! I have to find my partner and get him back safely!" Yang looks like she has been slapped. "I thought....I was your partner? B-Besides you heard what they said. It's not safe for us to leave right now! Plus at least two of those guys recognize you! They think that parts pirates have something to do with Tukson and that _you're_ one of them!" Now Blake looks like she's been struck. 

"I....I would never....I'm not..." She's acting strange, as if the accusation rubbed her the wrong way. Now that Yang thinks about it, Blake never specified who she was. " _Just that she wasn't a traditional AWOL. She's not an unwind. Then who is she?"_

"Blake. You can't leave me."

_"What is she?"_

"I have to find him."

_"I need to know more about her before it's too late."_

"Then I'm coming too." 

* * *

 

Delicate fingers dance across chapped lips, feeling the puffs of shallow labored breathing spill out. The teeth are gapped slightly at the front, causing every few breathes to whistle. "Hang in there, my dear. We're only half way finished." Those dainty fingers dip past the lips and into the cavernous mouth. With how close they are she can smell the rotten stench of their breath but she shows no reaction. 

"Is this what you signed up for, little one? Aren't you giving back to God what he's given to you? Or does that only apply when the government takes it?" A cold metal breaches their lips as well and soon they shriek at the sharp and wet crack of a tooth being torn from the gum followed by the impossible pain they should have been used to by now. But no, it's still horribly, unimaginably excruciating. If the sadistic woman hadn't already "harvested" them, their toes would have curled and their legs jolted. She repeats the action time and time again, taking care to make each and every pull hurt as much as possible. 

"Quit your dawdling now, Silver." Another feminine voice filled their ears. "My dearest says the Senator needs those dentures by next Wednesday!" The woman hovering over him laughs. Even her laugh is cold and cruel. "Here that, my little tithe? You're parts are going right to a Senator. Doesn't that count?" They let out a choked groan and fat tears rolled down their cheeks.

"Remind me to thank that bowler cap fellow for this batch. The way they squeal is just divine." 

The young tithe squirmed, but the thick leather straps kept them pressed tight against the metallic blood stained table. "Now that we've got teeth out of the way, let's work on the organ order we got from Berlin." 

"I thought you'd never ask!"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos & comment and maybe a beloved character will survive???? haha jk no one is getting out of this
> 
> ((also please imagine Weiss' little feet going tep tep tep as she runs down the stairs really fast bc she doesn't want to slide down the banister but she has to beat sun))


	12. Hate to see your heart break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time heals some wounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one chapter per month is a good schedule right haha
> 
> anyways the title is based off a song that hurts my feelings every time i hear it. it's called "Hate to see your heart break" by Paramore from their self titled album. I drew some inspo from that plus that sweet sweet blake trailer we just got which gave me some great ilia amitola content

Ruby picked at the hole in her tights. The hole had started out small when she had left that Saturday afternoon, but the strain of wearing them through an entire month as an AWOL had split it to the point that it exposed her entire knee cap. The four of them sat with their heads hung in shame in Mr. Lazer's office. It had taken him almost an hour to round up the girls. In the end it seemed that the old hotel owner was the best Assassin of them all. The older man was pacing and waving his hands wildly as he spoke.

"You were supposed to be under cover. If someone had stopped you and asked why four teenagers were running wild in a hotel all by themselves only two of you would have an alibi, and not a very strong one. And even if they held up, the other two would be sold out and shipped off to the nearest camp and there is nothing I could have done to stop it." Jaune physically tensed next to her. Ruby could feel the queasiness rolling off of him in thick waves. Mr. Lazer sighed heavily and plopped down in his squeaky office chair.

"Now....I really want you guys to know that this next decision is not your fault." Nora squeezed Ren's hand. They didn't like the sound of this. Wherever this conversation was heading it was not to a good place. "I have to kick two of you out. And like I said, Ruby and Ren have an alibi." 

"We're really sorry, Mr. Lazer." Nora croaked. It was so unlike her, a complete flip from her normal electric personality. It was scary. "Nora, sweetie. It's really not your fault. I know you guys were just trying to have some fun." He clasped her shoulders with his large hands. It was strange to see how small she looked in his grasp. To see tears beading in the corner of her eyes. "We've gotten orders from Beacon to downsize and after this round clears out I have to completely shut the safehouse down."

"But why?" Even the usual composure that laced Ren's soft voice had been tugged away to reveal his true nervousness. His knuckles were white from the grip he was holding Nora with. "There.....have been attacks. In the past few weeks three houses on separate ends of the city were hit. First was Tukson's books, where the owner was shot and killed. He had nearly 15 AWOLS in his house and every single one of them was gone by the time his niece found him. The second was just two days ago. Arryn Zech's laundry mat. Someone hijacked her pickup and took a van of 12 children all under 16 off the intended route and to god knows where. Then there was Signal." 

Nora and Ren shared an apprehensive glance. "You two know Signal?" They nodded. "We...spent some time there maybe a year ago. It was a nice place, really big."

"I see. It's size probably helped it out in this case. They were raided by the Juvies and a few kids were taken from there too. The others have been redistributed, like they're going to do with you. If Signal ever starts up again, they'll probably be in another state like Shade."

He rested his head in his palms and let out a shaky sigh. "All of those kids are dead or going to die within a few weeks." Ruby feels her throat tighten as she tries her hardest not to cry. "So to keep this from happening on a large scale, Beacon has decided to have all it's houses hold less kids. Small businesses can no longer house more than 10 kids, and places with heavy traffic have to shut down completely. As much as I want you all to stay, I just can't."

"So what will they do with us?" Jaune can barely keep from shouting. "We'll be out on the street?"

"No no. Just another safehouse." He can see the uneasy looks on their faces. "I know you don't want to split up. I can't even imagine how close you all are after all this time together. If I could keep you from splitting, I would. Put there's nothing I can do for you. You two ship out tomorrow night." Nora swiped at her eyes furiously, refusing to let tears fall in the presence of others. Ren's hand moves from her hand to wrap around her shoulders. 

Ruby's hands are shaking uncontrollably. After tomorrow it would just be her and a boy she barely knew and hardly spoke with. Not that she was particularly close to either Jaune or Nora, but she was at least comfortable around them. Jaune was her first friend and Nora....well she reminded her so much of Yang. Plus the three of them seemed so close already, it hardly seemed fair that she, the newest face in the bunch, should get to stay while they had to go. She would rather be thrown out on her own and let them stay. After all, she was even a real AWOL.

There is a loud tearing noise. Ruby looks down. Her tights are shredded and she was going to lose her only friends all over again. 

* * *

_An anti-unwind protest turned violent yesterday afternoon, leaving three teenagers wounded, and one dead. It was reportedly a normal protest, a large crowd of teens and young adults gathering with signs and banners to protest the act of unwinding, a procedure where the subject is kept awake and alive while their parts are taken and later redistributed to people in need. While most people have accepted this practice as a part of every day life, others believe it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment._

_This normal protest allegedly took a turn very quickly. Reports say that members of the crowd were becoming violent with civilians, leading to the calling of the local police and a few Juvey-Cops. Some say the teenagers were "getting in their faces" and "shoving the cops". This caused the Juvey-Cops to open fire._

_The legal amount of tranquilizer is contained within one dart. Sometimes two are needed to get the job done, often with bigger subjects. Chelsea Manford, 15, was shot point blank with 5 darts. Hit twice in the chest, once in the throat, once in the arm, and once in the head. This has been deemed not only excessive but cruel. Four darts contain enough serum to slow your bodily functions such as your lungs and heart. Five would be more than enough to stop them completely._

_Many of the protesters fled, pursued by the police. Onlookers looked on in horror at Chelsea and the three others who had been shot and left on the busy sidewalk. Though, strangely enough, medical assistance did not arrive until nearly and hour after the incident. Chelsea was reported dead upon arrival, and two of the other three victims are presumed to follow in her footsteps. It was her first protest, where she planned to revive the memory of her brother who was kidnapped by parts pirates just one year ago._

_Now for a personal opinion. Chelsea Manford did not deserve to die. I was at that rally. We weren't violent, and no one was provoking the cops. We know better than that. Juvies these days are too trigger happy. I saw her in the crowd before it all went to shit. She was barely 5 feet tall and 120 pounds soaking wet. Her sign was bigger than she was and had a picture of her brother with the caption "DOES HE NOT MATTER ANYMORE?" in protest of the fact that kids who are taken by parts pirates are considered even more taboo to talk about than normal unwindees._

_I fled the scene when I heard gunshots. So did a lot of us. No one knew that she had been hit with a beyond lethal dose, so none of us called for help. Do I regret it? Yes. For the rest of my life I will think about how I could have saved that girl yesterday. But more importantly, I will be working to get the cops (and yes it is plural) who shot her in cold blood fired. Nothing they saw could have justified the murder of an innocent girl._

_#Justice4Chelsea_

* * *

In the month that she had been on the run, she had never turned on a TV. Yang, to say the least, was pretty shocked. Before her life was flipped upside down she would often have the TV on 24/7, mostly for background noise while she did her homework. That's what she hated the most about being in hiding. The quiet. The waiting. But at least she had Blake to keep her grounded. 

They were in their third safehouse on the way to Haven ("This is the last pitstop, I swear!" Blake said)  when it happened for the first time. When someone jabbed their finger into her face and practically screeched "It's YOU! It's really  _YOU!_ " She did not particularly care for that shit at all. She batted the hand away and steeled her features. The boy who had so rudely popped her personal bubble didn't seem to mind her threatening glare. In fact, he turned and called over two more kids who flocked around her like sheep. 

"It's totally her, I recognize her from the picture on the news!" 

"What are you talking about?!" Blake placed her hand on her shoulder, a sign that she was starting to get too loud. "Oh man, I can't believe you're really here!" Another over enthusiastic boy grabbed her forearm and gasped lightly at the thick muscle he found there. Yang snarled and yanked her arm away from him. "Stop touching me, seriously." 

"Sorry, it's just-" He laughed nervously "-you're like a celebrity! You inspired us to go on the run instead of sitting back and waiting to be unwound!"

"We wanted to be just like the Austin AWOL!" Yang blinked. "I'm sorry, the what?" Had this been an early 90s style anime, the three boys would have collapsed in a very comical fashion. Instead they just gaped in shock at the beefy blonde. Blake's hands tightened on Yang's broad shoulders. "I thought you said this was her."

"It is! How many AWOLS have purple eyes?" 

"A lot, actually." Yang chimed in. "The pigment injections I have are pretty common at my high school. Now will one of you tell me what the hell the 'Austin AWOL' is?!" Another grounding squeeze from Blake. Her intense gaze urging her to calm down did nothing to soothe the budding tension. 

"How do you not know that you're one of the most famousest AWOLs in the entire state?! Have you been living under a rock?"

"No, just in safehouses." Suddenly the boys seemed much more sheepish. Judging by the way they behaved and the fact that whatever the Hell Yang had done to earn the name "Austin AWOL" had encouraged them to run away and join the system, this was probably their first or second house and they had only been here for maybe a day or two. The lack of exposure to the outside world would come crashing down on them in time, but for now they prided themselves on being the most informed people in the house. 

"You were on TV. Well, your picture was. You pulled a gun on the Juvey that was carting you to Atlas! Flipped a squad car! And, on top of all of that, you survived and  _got away!_ Witnesses who saw you run said you had blood pouring from your shoulder, and a huge bruise on your head! You shouldn't have survived, let alone walked away from that mess! Like, three different news stations came and covered the story!"

"Apparently the traffic stopped a bus full of Staho kids who were heading to Atlas too. A bunch of them jumped off the bus and started running." Another boy picked up where the first had left off. "They caught most of them, though. But there are still a bunch they can't find. We-" he gestured to himself and his friends "-were from that house."

Yang's eyes widened. "You guys jumped off the bus?!"

"No no no. We weren't on the chopping block quite yet. But we knew that the thinning would have to happen again eventually and made a break for it before they could make the choice for us." Blake raised her eyebrows. "So you left a home that was providing you food and shelter because they  _might_ have you unwound  _eventually?_ And then decided to enter the safehouse system, which struggles with keeping all of their charges safe and faces exposure and potential death on a daily basis?" 

"Well when you put it like that it sounds-"

"It sounds stupid." Blake folded her arms over her chest. Her lips were pressed into a pout, eyes narrow, and shoulders hunched. "The AWOL life isn't glamorous. It's  _dangerous._ You said it yourself, the Austin AWOL should have died when she flipped the car. The fact that she didn't is a miracle and I can assure you that not all of you will be that lucky." She leaned closer to the boys, so close that she could probably snap one of their noses clean off. "In fact, I'm sure I guarantee that at least one of you will be caught and unwound before you even reach Shade." 

Yang chuckled nervously. "Okay, Blake! Really good scared straight speech! Gets better at every house." She wrapped a hand in her partner's scarf and pulled her back. The beefiest of the boys puffed out his chest as if Yang reigning in her partner had been his own personal victory. "You know, you probably _will_ have better luck in the system. You're so big you even overshadowed the tithe rec center bombing." 

"There was another one?" Blake gasped. The beefy boy nodded. "White Fang again, obviously. They sent in some younger girl to pose as a tithe or something and she blew the place sky high. Like I said, the Austin AWOL is even bigger than a White Fang attack. If that doesn't give you special treatment from housemasters then I don't know what would."

"Who was the girl?" Blake whispered. She was naturally fairly soft spoken, but never this soft. Never this shaky. "Did the news say who the girl was?"

"Yeah, actually." Her fists tightened at her sides. "Who was she?"

"Some girl named Ilia Atola or something. Or was it-"

"Amitola. Her name was Ilia Amitola."

* * *

_"Why do you do it if you aren't and Unwind?" Blake looked up from her book at the raspy voiced girl. The dark skinned girl smiled and made room for her on the paint splattered bench she had claimed for herself. Ilia settled in, pulling her feet up and resting her head on her knees._

_"Well, it's kind of a long story. I grew up in a small town in Ohio. Things were getting really scary. A couple suicides, a murder. There was even a bomb threat at the high school I went to. And on top of all of that, kids were being signed off for unwinding left and right. Our Staho even had to shut down and all of those children were sent off to Harvest Camps, even the ones who weren't old enough. It was....criminal."_

_"Is that why you left?" She nodded. "My protest wasn't getting anywhere at home, so I wanted to go bigger. I ended up down here in Austin and the rest is history." The smaller girl rubbed at her splotchy legs. "Wow. That must have been rough. Leaving home so young with nothing."_

_"Of course it was hard. Nothing we do is really easy. I actually feel like I had it easier than most." They pause, dwelling in silence for a while. "What about you? What's your story, Ilia?" She rubbed at her legs again and bit her lip. "I don't really like to talk about it. Maybe another time, Blake."_

_Weeks passed and the two gradually spent more and more time with each other. They shared many stories of their lives before and secrets they had kept from everyone else. One day Ilia nudged herself into Blake's side, ignoring the light blush blooming on the other girls face as she pressed closer. "One of the grunts brought in shipment. It was mostly supplies for the next raid, but they also scored this!"_

_She retrieved the object from her coat pocket. It was small and circular, very retro in style. The top was adorned with small buttons with symbols painted on and a tiny window. "It's a portable CD player! They're kinda dated, which is why we got one so easy. Here." She extended an earbud and placed it into Blake's ear herself. "They had a couple of CDs come in too, and this band is my favorite!" Ilia tapped a few of the buttons and steady guitar and drums filled their ears._

**WHAT A SHAME, WHAT A SHAME WE ALL REMAIN**  
SUCH FRAGILE BROKEN THINGS  
BUTTERFLIES WITH PUNCTURED WINGS

_"Who...who is this?" Ilia's face lit up. "It's an old band that was super popular during the early 2000s. They were called Paramore. Their older stuff was a hit with rebels and punks like us."_

_STILL THERE ARE DARKENED PLACES DEEP IN MY HEART_  
WHAT ONCE WAS BLAZING LIGHT NOW  
THERE'S A TINY SPARK

_"Do you like it?" She more than just liked it. She loved it. The lyrics and the heavy riffs of the guitar seemed to have flooded from the ancient CD directly into her veins. Every part of her soul resonated with the singer and the helplessness of her apparent struggle._

_OH GLORY_  
COME AND FIND ME  
OH GLORY  
COME AND FIND ME

 _DANCING ALL ALONE TO THE SOUND OF AN ENEMY'S SONG_  
I'LL BE LOST UNTIL YOU FIND ME  
FIGHTING ON MY OWN IN A WAR THAT'S ALREADY BEEN WON  
I'LL BE LOST UNTIL YOU COME AND FIND ME HERE   
OH GLORY

_"You said this was popular with rebels?" Ilia nodded. "I can see why. It's kinda like us, huh?" She cocked her head in confusion. "She-" Blake pointed to the player as if the tiny device was the singer herself "-is fighting a war that's over. Like us and the Heartland Wars. We're fighting to end unwinding even thought the decision was already made. It's like she wrote this for us before she even knew we would be here." Ilia chuckled._

_"Wow, B. You're a really deep thinker, huh?" The dark haired girl shrugged. She was suddenly embarrassed by her assessment and anxious pressure began building in her belly. "Some people call it over thinking...." Her body jolted at the feeling of soft hair and softer skin falling against her shoulder. The body attached to the offending objects hummed. "I like it. Makes the song more interesting to listen to." She paused. "Yknow maybe it should be our anthem. You should tell Adam about it." Blake smiled. "Yeah, maybe." She lifted a hand and gently pat the crop of fiery red hair. The other girl leaned into the touch with another happy hum._

_They listened to the next fear songs in silence, appreciating the individual melody and beat until suddenly the tempo changed from fast and happy to something slower._

**There is not a single word**  
In the whole world   
That could describe the hurt

_Blake's eyes widened. A sad song? This was completely different from the style Ilia had described to her before. The singer belted out line after line, describing pain and sorrow in ways she had yet to personally experience, the imagery creating an ache where the anxiety had once bubbled.  
_

**_And I  
I hate to see your heart break_ **

_Ilia yawned. She spoke, raspy voice barely reaching a whisper. "I think someday, when this is all over, I'd want to keep being around you. I just really feel safe around you, yknow?"_

_"Yeah. I get that."_

**_I hate to see your eyes get darker as they close  
But I've been there before_ **

_"You make me feel like I matter. Everyone else in my life would make me feel invisible and I got so sick of it. I'm just....I'm glad to have someone who sees me and likes me." The hand in her hair began to gently stroke the strands. It was much greasier than it looked, but that was to be expected. They didn't have easy access to showers here and even when they did they were limited so every member of the White Fang could get cleaned. In such a short frame of time it wasn't logical to take the time it must take to wash the copious amount of hair Ilia possessed._

_"You never told me....why did you join the White Fang?" Finally she removed herself from Blake's shoulder and straightened herself. "Oh. Uh...."_

_"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."_

_"No, it's fine. I brought it up, kind of. Besides, you told me yours." The music paused and for a moment the two were left in uncomfortable silence before Ilia inhaled deeply._

_"I was growing up in the countryside near Atlas Harvest Camp. My parents took up work at Schnee Tranquilizer Manufacturing and worked long hours. They couldn't spare the time to take me into town for school, so they worked super hard to get me enrolled with the Atlas training academy so I could start the path to becoming a Juvey-Cop. Most of the students there were from rich families with a long line of Juvey-Cops and squeaky clean records, while my father was a part of a rogue group of teenagers that lived on the outskirts of Austin after the war ended. My mother was an active anti-unwind protester until she was arrested and jailed. They told me that under no circumstances would I let anyone know about my family history._

_"Like I said, a lot of the other trainees had fancy rich parents and lives. They loved to brag about them during breaks. Maurice has a new nose job, Joshua's mother reported a safehouse and it was raided. And the things they said about the unwinds we were in charge of....it was always hateful. How they deserved the divided states they were entering because they must have been bad. Or stupid. Or... **poor.** And it got to the point where I would do it along with them." She sneered._

_"One day there was an accident at the factory. The chemicals were mixed incorrectly and caused an explosion. Most workers were killed instantly by the blast. I like to think my parents were among those who didn't suffer. News spread of the accident and I remember the other trainees. They laughed. They joked about how the system and missed a few unwinds and were paying the price now. After all, what did they care? They were just lowly factory workers. They had no idea I was an orphan now, they had no idea that without my parents money the program would no longer accept me....and I had no idea that it meant I would be signed away from unwinding."_

_Blake wrapped an arm around the smaller girl who had begun to shake. "They should have just taken me and gotten it over with. I was already at the camp, and they didn't have to work through any legality that comes with kids with parents. But the authorities decided that would be too kind for me. They saw my tragedy as a training opportunity and sicced the other kids on me like hounds on a fox."_

_"I'm so sorry."_

_"Don't be. There's a reason I'm here right now, and they aren't." Blake released her, taken aback by the nonchalant response. Ilia turned to her with a look that could only be described as sinister. "I'm whole. And I intend to stay that way, no matter what it takes."_

* * *

 It took a long while for Yang to remove herself from the hoard of excited AWOLS begging for her life story and in some cases, autographs. She burst through the crowd, muttering something about needing to pee before locking herself in the tiny closet sized bathroom. A tired sigh left her lips. "Geez, that was wild."

"You can say that again." Yang didn't jump. She definitely didn't let out an undignified squeak. She pulled back the dirty shower curtain to reveal Blake, curled in on herself in the tub. "Whoa, B. I-I didn't even notice you had left, too. You okay?" Blake looked up and Yang, pulled herself in tighter, and looked away. Yang dropped to her knees and leaned against the tub's rim. "M'fine. You?"

"Yeah. Those kids were super crazy. That's why I'm hiding in here. You don't mind sharing do ya?" Blake didn't utter a word, simply moved over to allow Yang to slid into the cramped tub beside her. "So, what are you hiding from?" Blake refused to meet her eyes and curled even tighter than before, tighter than what had previously been imagined possible. "Just...something personal."

Yang's lip jutted out in a pout. "Another secret?" The dark girl shook her head. "No. It's not really....I just....it's hard to talk about." She jolted slightly at the feeling of warmth creeping over her fingers followed by a squeeze. Her gaze darted from the stained porcelain walls of the bathtub to meet fading violet. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm not gonna make you." She gave another squeeze. "But I am gonna say that you shouldn't bottle yourself up like that. Not all the time. It's not healthy for you. I'm not saying you should, y'know, word vomit every time you get down, but at least let it out every once in a while. I'll always be here to listen."

The silence between them festered, growing so thick it felt as if you could cut it with a knife. Finally, Blake broke it. "That girl. The one who blew up the rec center..."

"You knew her?"

"I dated her."

Yang felt as if she had bonked her head on a low hanging branch but the sensations crept along her entire body. "Oh. Oh! You-you're girls?" Blake let out a very uncharacteristic snort. "Yeah, I'm girls." The stunned feeling slowly replaced itself with a warm dopey relief and she honest to God had no idea where it was coming from. Luckily Blake continued before this new fuzzy feeling had the chance to test out the vocal chords. 

 "I met her when I first moved to Austin. She was an incredibly smart and sweet girl. She was also well trained and knew how to infiltrate camps. We set so many kids free....we..." She choked. Squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her fist. "We did good things together. We did so many bad things, too. That's why I had to leave her. Leave that lifestyle."

"But you came back to it, right? I mean you're here?"

"No. I don't do what I did back then anymore. I can't. I  _won't._ " Before she knew it she was shaking, tears welling up once more. Yang knew better than to move in for a comforting embrace and instead opted to place her hand on her shoulder. The hand was intercepted halfway to it's post and caught on Blake's cheek, which nuzzled it softly. She could have sworn she even heard a faint purr. "Thank you, Yang."

"N-No problem." Even though they hadn't had access to the various skin care and makeup products she had used on a nearly daily basis in her past, Blake's skin was soft and warm. Yang had to beat down the urge to lift a hand to her own cheek to compare. Now her brain had taken a completely different track and was wandering farther and farther from their current situation down the path of how absolutely horrible her skin and hair must look after a month of the bare minimum. Did that make her conceited? Wouldn't someone had told her if she looked like a reanimated corpse or did no one else really care that much? The more she thought about it the more she thought how beautiful Blake looked, especially compared to her.

"I can smell smoke, stop thinking so hard." Despite being knocked back into reality by her words, she smiled. "Thanks again for listening to me. It feels really good to let it all out." Before she could respond a rough bang on the door caused them both to flinch. "Are you almost done in there? I have to pee!" 

Yang sucked a breath in through her teeth. "This is gonna be a bit awkward, huh?" Blake lifted her head from Yang's hand and replaced it with her own. "I'm starting to learn that a lot of things are awkward with you. I kind of like it, though." Together, they rose from the tub and made their way to the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do i regret killing Ilia? Yes I do. Am I going to retcon it? No i am Not.
> 
> kudos and comments are appreciated! please talk to me i have so much to say
> 
> also to clear it up they're all in the same time. all of the events of the chapter are taking place during the same day from now on unless specified.


	13. Heart to heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pyrrha has a mission  
> Raven has a reason  
> Whitley has an idea  
> We all have our regrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> raven branwen could kick me in the face and hold me for ransom in her dirty bandit camp and i would probably say thanks   
> and ilia my sweet gay daughter whom i love deserves better  
> anyways

Pyrrha usually had a strategy. A plan of attack that would ensure everyone's collective success. For the past month, she had nothing. For the first time in 17 years of life, she was running into battle completely blind and hoping for the best. Freesia, who had surprisingly stuck with her from the moment they ditched the bus, didn't seem to notice or mind how haphazardly their lives had become. Like an excited puppy she had trailed behind the redhead on each of their endeavors, from crashing in homeless shelters to slipping discarded food out of the super market dumpsters. 

Pyrrha had also become strangely accustomed to the blonde's company. When they wandered the back allies of Austin late at night she often found their hands wrapped tightly around each other. For protection. For strength. For something to ground them. Especially on days like these. Austin was a huge city, compared to some. There were countless places they could have ended up. It seemed to be just their luck that the alley they had chose to crash in the night before was right along the route of Austin's biggest anti-unwind protest.

"I don't get why you're in such a big hurry to leave, P. Shouldn't this be the safest place for us?" Pyrrha shook her head, grip on Freesia's wrist tightening. "Not when the cops show up." The crowd's chanting began to reach a fever pitch, growing louder and more frenzied with each rep. It broke her heart to see the young faces in the crowd holding up pictures of friends and siblings long since unwound. It broke even more at the sight of parents and grandparents. The regret in their eyes as they proclaimed to the world their mistakes. Over the chanting she could hear the faint sound of sirens. It was already too late. "Come on. We have to hurry." 

All of her training in track and field was about to pay off. Leaping over discarded bags and signs, athletic legs carrying her like a goddess over water. Freesia's added weight did little to slow her retreat. In fact, it was what urged her to go faster. If she was caught, fine. She had run away. Like a horse with a broken leg, her time was up. Though she still maintained some level of skill even now the pain in her ankle seemed to tear at her from the inside out. Freesia hadn't hatched up this plan, or even opened the door. She simply took her hand and followed her lead. She couldn't let her be caught and thrown away like she was broken. It wouldn't be fair to her. 

They reach safety as the first shot fires. Soon everyone is screaming and scattering in every direction. Pyrrha doesn't even bother looking back to see who had been hit, just as long as it wasn't her and her partner. In any other situation she would have jumped back into the fray but now simply wasn't the time. They were safe and remained undetected and that was what had to matter. 

"We can't keep living like this." The little blonde at her side muttered. Her chest heaved with labored breath and droplets of sweat dripped down her temple. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pull you so hard-"

"That's not what I meant, P." It scared her to hear someone so soft and bubbly become so stern and serious. "We can't keep picking allies and shelters and hoping to God that no one turns us in. It's made you far more paranoid. I don't think I've  _ever_ seen you run that fast, and you're ankle is injured. You'll only make it worse if we have to keep doing this. And then what? Staho won't take you back, and you can't be unwound if the damage is permanent. Then what will you do?"

She usually had a strategy. Before the accident she had her whole life planned out ahead of her. A scholarship to a nice college for their track team, perhaps even making it to the Olympics one day. Now she had no idea what she was going to do, even if she managed to live until her 18th birthday. She was never really registered in the database, was she? Or did the Staho do that before shipping out the buses? Would she be able to get a job or apply for school anymore or was she automatically blacklisted once her status as human was denounced? 

"I'm...sorry. I should have thought of that, of your safety as well." 

"Don't be. As long as you promise me you'll let me choose the next place we stay, okay?" Pink tongue darted out between a sly smile and a single orange eye flashed shut in what could only be described as a flirty yet mildly threatening wink. Pyrrha, ever strong and confident, felt slightly week in the knees. Curse that cute little blonde. She let out a light giggle. "Okay, Freesia. You can pick. Just lead the way." 

To passersby, they looked like every other teen couple racing through the streets. Freesia took the lead and took her turn tugging Pyrrha behind her like an oversized rag doll with long awkward limbs that struggled to keep up with how fast those little feet could run. "My cousins used to tell me 'bout all kinds of secret safehouses they had in Austin. I'm sure it won't take long to find a comfy one!" It was endearing how she had referred to her favorite older kids at Staho as her cousins, and the ones she had become especially close with her siblings. It created a sense of closeness that Staho kids had never really known, and threw any nosy eavesdroppers off their trail. If they were being searched for, they were searching for orphans. Most orphans didn't have cousins. 

They reach the other side of town by night fall. Pyrrha, for one, is grateful. Even though she trusted Freesia to find some place nice, she wasn't sure if she could stand another all nighter. They had both been a bit testy after that particular jaunt. But, much to her relief, their final stop was at the front step of the nicest most luxurious hotel that she had personally laid eyes on. The slightly weathered architecture and soft light from occupied rooms should have lulled into a sense of security. This was a safe place. But it didn't feel like it. Not at first glance.

"Well, this is the place. The owner is kind of a hardass but it keeps his house safe. You ready to go inside?"

Absolutely not. Pyrrha usually had a strategy, a plan of attack to ensure the survival of her and her partner. There was no confidence in her walk and a distinct lack of sureness in her smile. Standing outside of what could mean consistent shelter and safety for them made her stomach toss and her brain scream with all the possibilities. There were so many ways this could blow up in their faces. There were stories in the news all the time about raids and parts pirates. Things like today's rally went wrong and hurt people all the time. Even if things went well they could only go well in this place for so long. They would have to move along at some point, right? How would that even work.

There was a slight squeeze from the small hand wrapped in her own larger palm. Suddenly having a plan didn't matter. All that mattered was her mission. Stay alive. Keep Freesia alive. This hotel could possibly do that for them. "Yes. I''m ready." They pushed the grand double doors open in perfect synch, both taken aback by the stunning interior decor. A large, intricate chandelier dangled above the carpeted common area decorated with well worn leather couches and a stout mahogany coffee table littered with magazines from years past. The tall blond boy positioned behind the front desk perked up at the sound of the doors creaking open. 

"Welcome. C-can I help you ladies?"

"Yes. We were wondering if the owner was around?" Awkward eyes flicked over their frames, taking in every inch of them. Every scrape and bruise and torn bits of fabric. It seemed to take him a minute but his blue eyes finally zinged with recognition. Suddenly his expression hardened. He had to make a choice here. Allow them in or turn them away. It had to be tough, knowing the danger he could put them in by letting these strangers meet with the man running the whole show unscheduled. But in the end he rose from his chair, full height nearly matching Pyrrha's, and stepped out from behind the desk. "Follow me."

* * *

"How could you?" She smirked around her glass. The sweet brown whiskey burned as she downed it, the buzz in her head growing stronger with each swallow. She needed this. The sound of body thumping onto the creaky barstool beside her finally pulled her away from her drink. Ruby red eyes glared back at her. 

"Qrow. Glad you could make it." She lifted her hand and signaled the bartender. Soon two more glasses of bottom shelf liquor entered her grasp, one she slid down to the brooding man at her side. He stared at reluctantly for a long while before downing it in one shot. "Don't think you can win me over with booze, Rae. Why the Hell did you call me?" A tiny chuckle left her lips. She swirled the booze around the glass absently. "Can't a girl just want to talk to her little brother?" 

"She can. That's not why I'm here, though, is it?" The bartender refills their drinks and they both take a long swig. "Does she have it?" She could feel his glare turn back to her more intense than before. 

"Did you know that Yang is gonna be unwound?"

"Don't change the subject." 

"Did you know that Yang is one of the state's most wanted criminals? Or did you really only call me here for business? Business that  _I am no longer associated with?_ " Raven scoffed. Her fist clenched around her glass, threatening to break it. The bartender reappeared to refill but she waved him off with a simple "No more. I'll take a tea, if you got it." She turned back to her brother. Two sets of ruby red eyes met and battled each other with their glares. "What was it you once told me? Once a Branwen, always a Branwen?"

"That does not apply to this situation. Y'know I think it's really funny you're talking about family ties when you're so willing to pretend your own daughter doesn't exist."

"I'm not here to talk about family. You said it yourself, this is business. I need to know if Salem has it. If you don't know-"

"You're dealing with her again?!" His voice was reaching unacceptable levels of loud, drawing more attention than either of them really wanted. He clenched his jaw and leaned in close, struggling to keep his voice low. "Raven, are you serious? After what happened the last time-" 

"That won't happen again. I just need to know what we're going up against if-"

"If what? And what 'we' are you referring to exactly? What's left of your little tribe after her last betrayal?" Her jaw clenched. "It used to be  _our_ tribe. You got your hands dirty just as much as the rest of us, Qrow. Don't act all high and mighty because you work for the Juvies now. You know it's the same thing, right? Just legal." He slammed his fist onto the countertop. "Don't try and guilt trip me. We were killers and thieves and I was sick of leading that life."

"So you'd rather be a thief for Ozpin? We were your family, not that geezer. And you haven't answered my question. Does. Salem. Have it?"

"You know I don't know that. If you're so scared of the possibility why don't you check in on her yourself? I'm not your lackey anymore." He paused, swirling the glass absently like his sister had done. "While I have you here, why don't you tell me something? Why haven't you come back for your daughter, if family and trust is so damn important all of a sudden?" 

"You know why. She's not strong enough for the tribe, not yet. And if what you've said about her is true, she only has a few months left anyways." Qrow had never wanted to punch his sister out more than he did right now. "What about Tai then, huh? And what about me? You used to love us, Rave. You used to be happy in that house and now look at you." His jaw clenched. "You look like death. I can see the grey in your hair, no matter how hard you're trying to hide it. Why don't you just come back to us and we can start over. I know Taiyang would love to see you again." 

He slowly reached out to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze but she slapped his hand away. She was refusing to meet his gaze. Raven pushed herself away from the bar and rose to her feet. "Maybe I will check on her, Qrow. And if she does have it, you'd better pray for your little beacon. Even brilliant lights will cease to burn." She turned on her heel, hip checking her stool and sending it crashing to the ground as she stormed out into the night. Qrow let out a heavy sigh. "Make this next one a double, would ya?"  

* * *

Weiss flinched at the slamming of the tea room door behind her. "That was quite the stunt you pulled, dear sister. Surprised you're getting off this easy." Her lip curled. So that's why he was here. "Would you like some tea, Whitley? Klein just made a fresh pot." She refused to meet his eyes as he stalked across the room and plopped into the chair across from her. Her gaze stayed locked on the unwinds milling around the yard just outside the window. They kept staring back at her, pointing and whispering. She couldn't hear them of course, but she knew what they were saying.

"Remind me again of your punishment?"

"It's your favorite. Black tea." _Like your soul_. She finally pried herself from the window and grabbed the teapot, pouring the scalding liquid with practiced precision. "Cream or sugar?"

"If only you had avoided those searchlights like you're avoiding my question." The teapot reconnected with the table a bit harsher than intended. "You know I've been taking some walks in the garden. Along the fence. Chatting with the local riffraff. They have some very interesting things to say about you, you know? Not everyone can throw the great Winter Schnee into such a panic. Though, some are saying you weren't up there all alone."

"Of course I was. Who else would be up there, a butler? You know for a fact that Mother and Father were out, and obviously Winter was as well. So, who do you propose would have been up there?" 

"How about the boy you're hiding?" It took all of her will power to remain as frigid and expressionless as normal. It would take a microscope to detect the slight tremor in her hands as she lifted her cup to her mouth. He was grasping at straws. He had to be. There was no way he had any feasible proof of Sun's existence, let alone any details about him such as gender. Whitley took her silence as invitation to continue.

"Dearest dearest sister. You don't have to hide this from me anymore. Last night's stunt was a cry for help, we both know it. Is he framing you? Blackmail? Or could it be you just had a change of heart?" He chuckled. Took a long sip of his tea. "Although I highly doubt that last one. Once an ice queen always an ice queen. So what is he using against you?"

"Even if someone was blackmailing me why on Earth would you care? You blackmail me all the time. In fact, I'm pretty sure that you're about to try and blackmail me right now." He let out another hearty chortle and set his teacup down. Long legs pushed him from the table and carried him over to the window. "Perhaps. Though, seeing as you are currently the most disgraced Schnee, there isn't much I have to gain from doing such. Maybe I just can't stand to see you suffer in silence any longer."

 _Maybe you just want to watch me burn._ "Disgraced or not, as of now I'm still the heiress to the tranq company. And I don't plan on letting go of that title anytime soon." 

"Though your title comes with a condition, does it not?" Her grip tightened on her cup handle. "True. If your plan was to sabotage my training then I'm afraid it will never come to fruition. Winter...no. General Ironwood would never let you past the front gate, let alone into the training area." He turned to face her. The sheer amount of smugness in the grin plastered on his pale cheeks was enough to turn the blood in her veins to the ice it was rumored to be. "Well it's a good thing I don't plan on trying to sabotage you. At least, I wasn't. No no no, dear sister. If you're away at training, no one is going to be here to hide your dirty little secret."

Weiss rose to her full height and stalked closer to her brother. "Bold assumption that you'll be able to snoop around my room."

"So there is something to hide in your room?" Ugh. She couldn't let him get under her skin or into her head like this. Not again. "Or maybe I just don't want you snooping in my personal sanctuary."

"And you're going to stop me while you're away at training?" She wanted to push him out of the large window and laugh as he writhed in pain on the ground below. She wanted to retrieve her rapier and poke so many holes into his torso no amount of skin grafts would cover them up. She wanted to slap him so hard that smug smile flew off of his face and onto the floor so she could stamp it into the carpet. But most of all she wanted to run. Run back to her room and pack up her things, grab Sun, and march out of Schnee Manor to live the rest of her life a free woman.

Instead she squared her shoulders and steeled her heart. "Perhaps you haven't heard of locks? Besides, you're a fool if you think I haven't already thought of every way to keep you out and my secrets safe. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be in my room." She twirled on the tips of her toes, a small smile creeping onto her lips when she felt her ponytail whap his arm, and strutted out of the room letting the door slam behind her. She knew in her heart that her bluff wouldn't last much longer. Her brother had a plan, so she would just have to craft a better one.

* * *

He hated new houses. 

They always started the same. People ogling him, crowding him. Asking about his hair. How does he keep it so vibrant living life on the run? How is his skin so smooth and beautifully tanned? His teeth so dazzling perfect? Who was the creepy redhead that seemed to cling to his hip 24/7? Or the tall, silent, tree like teen? Why did he let them do that? How could those two be friends with someone so perfect?

They always ended up the same way, too. Isolated and ignored. No longer seen as a perfect idol but as the awkward freak he had once been. The persona he had tried to leave behind once he received the unwind order. At least Sage and Scarlet were there for him. He was glad the rebels that took them in after the fall of Signal let him stay with them. He had never truly known comfort until he spent his first night curled into Sage's chest with strong arms holding him closer, or resting his chin in the juncture between Scarlet's head and shoulder. He felt at home with his hands buried in Sun's thick blond curls, noses bumping against each other and little giggles slipping from their lips. 

He hadn't slept as well since Sun disappeared. It wasn't like he was completely alone. He still had the other two, but each house seemed less and less sunny and more and more cramped. Even the people he felt so at home with seemed bleak and saturated in his absence. They never truly drifted apart, but after the fall of Signal they just weren't the same. With each house they became more and more antsy. If Signal was hit there was nothing to keep the small safehouses from being raided. Or worse, they could end up separated.

Most house runners tried to honor relationships, whether they were siblings or dating. It also helped that Sun was friends with someone that held a lot of pull in groupings and distribution of AWOLS. Now that they were both MIA, he wasn't sure if they could convince the runners to let them stay together.

Turns out, the runners were the least of his worries.

They had been in the new house for nearly a week when it happened. He was browsing through the limited selection of books when he felt a small tap on his shoulder. He turned, confused only momentarily when no one immediately entered his line of sight. "Oh, hey Scarlet!" The cropped head of red hair bobbed angrily nearly a foot below him. "Very funny, I'm short I get it! Sage wants us to meet up near the bunks. It's..." They let out a sigh. "It's really important." 

"O-Okay." Despite not liking the sound of that, he met them. Sage was casually picking at the fraying ends of the faded forest green sleeping sack he had been assigned for the duration of his stay. His normally neutral expression was sullen and stern at the same time. Scarlet pushed past him and settled into the dip of Sage's side, their usual spot. But instead of a retrieving book or an abandoned piece of tech they could fiddle with they simply stared at their hands. 

"Neptune. Glad you could make it." 

"Wouldn't wanna be anywhere else. What's up?" He plopped down, ignoring the cloud of dust that buffeted from the carpeted floor. Sage sighed. "It's...kind of important." 

"Yeah, Scarlet said that when they came and got me. Is something wrong?" There were a million possibilities flying through his head. So many ways that things could or have already gone so wrong. They could have found Sun. There could be no trace of him. They were being double crossed. They found the double crossers and it was one of their closest friends, like Blake or Reese. Reese and Arslan and their crew had died. Sun had died. They were going to die. Or worse. They were being unwound. 

"I've decided to leave the system. I already pass for 20 or older, and we aren't making any progress finding Sun and Blake just sitting around and waiting. If or when I find them I will personally haul their asses back to Haven and rejoin as a volunteer or something." Sage pursed his lips. He opened his mouth to continue but decided against it and shut it once more.

Neptune was shocked into silence. His fingertips were going numb and he felt light headed. "You-"

"It's safe." Scarlet interjected. "The house runners have agreed to give him a new identity and enough money to get started. It's safe." The redhead sounded as if they were trying to convince themself more than anything. Sage and Scarlet had always been closer, seeing as they grew up together, and it most have been killing them to watch their lifelong safety blanket pack up and leave them. "When are you planning on leaving?"

"As soon as I can. Probably tonight after dinner." A large hand clapped onto Neptune's shoulder. He shrugged off the light sting and leaned into the touch. "Hopefully I won't be gone for too long. I mean, how hard could it be to find Sun Wukong?" He placed his other hand on Scarlet's shoulder. "And you two will still have each other. You two can stay alive without me here to supervise. Right?" The two of them nodded. 

"You have to promise us you'll be back, alright? Sun or no Sun, I....I don't care." The words burned like acid coming out of his throat. He didn't want to lose Sun completely, but he didn't want to lose Sage too. He threw his arms around his broad shoulders and buried his head in his chest. "Promise, please." Scarlet soon followed, twisting to wrap their spindly noodle appendages around his torso. Sage encompassed them in his strong arms. His scent filled Neptune's lungs and despite everything he had previously said, he didn't want to let him go. This wasn't going to be fine. Promises could be broken and he knew that the chances of Sage returning with Sun and Blake in hand with all of them in one piece was incredibly slim. 

"I love you. I love you both so much." It came out as a whisper, shaky and scared. He hated that. He hated how heart to heart talks like this could melt his cool guy facade and reveal the scared teenager that cowered beneath it. "We love you, too. And I promise I'll be back. And Sun will be with me." A light kiss was pressed to his forehead. It was soothing, but not enough. 

He knew all too well that things like this always ended the same. It was never good. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please comment....i love to talk...


	14. Letters to loved ones

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cinder forms a plan  
> Weiss joins a team  
> Ruby makes a choice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i honestly like don't know what im doing now but yall like it so 
> 
> i edited a few things, adding a few scenes, tweaking ages and such. nothing major that really affects the plot, but just minor details that i hope will add to it.
> 
> i should also mention that my oc team HSMN (horsemen) is in this chapter since they attend Atlas Academy in their canon. They dont really play a huge part, but there arent enough canon Atlas students to do what i need.

"Have you found her yet?" 

"I-I'm sorry, sir. Her phone hasn't pinged in nearly 3 weeks. It seems we've lost her." The figure on screen fidgets apologetically. Adam snarled, a large hand sweeping across the desk and sending objects clattering to the floor in a cacophony of rage, causing the figure to flinch. "Not an option! Do you understand how crucial she is to this operation?! Find her or else!" Without another word he ends the call.

An airy chuckle sounds from behind him. Adam grimaced as the woman slid her hands over his shoulder and down his chest to wrap her arms around his neck. "You seem so worked up over this girl. Tell me about her, why do you want to find her so bad? Did she help you out with your business?" Adam failed to repress a scowl. "She  _used to._ Then she changed. Then she  _ran._ " The woman practically purrs.

"Change isn't always a bad thing. After all, isn't that why we hired you?" Her nails dig into his skin, even through the thick material of his over coat. "And yet our income is even lower than when we started working with you. I thought you told me that partnering with the White Fang would not only up our sales but supply us with more parts than what we would know what to do with. Where did those promises go, Adam?"

"We are still working on it. The recreation center clapper attack has brought our organization into public light." The nails dig in harder. "And whose fault was that? I know I didn't send that poor girl to the rec center. And I know that it wasn't my idea to leave your calling card at the scene of the crime. In fact, I believe Emerald and Mercury advised you to postpone that little endeavor. Do you know how valuable tithe parts are in this market? And you go and blow them away like they're nothing." One hand slid up his chest to cup his chin, forcing him to look her in the eyes. 

"The way I see it, you don't have the right to be chasing after this mystery girl until you get me what you promised."

"That's where you're mistaken." He wrenched himself free of her grip. "If I know anything about her, it's where to look next. I know that my beloved has always had a weakness for AWOLS. No doubt she's already reinjected herself into their system."

"Hm. I'll have some people on it first thing in the morning. In the meantime, why don't you do me a favor and start preparing your men? We're going to pay some AWOLS a lovely visit." 

* * *

The sunrise woke her before her alarm did. The weight of a head on her chest shook her out of the half dream stupor and into reality. "Sun...?"

"Do you have to go?" He had put on a tough guy facade. He had done a very good job of pulling it off. Now in the early light of dawn his true colors were shining through. He was just as scared as she was. It was hard to keep her hands steady as she smoothed his wily blond locks in what she hoped was a soothing manner. "I have to. If I don't my punishment will be worse." She gently tilted his chin so she could look him in the eyes. It broke her heart to see how sad they looked. "I'm just going to be next door at Atlas. If everything goes well I'll be back in a couple weeks. Klein will keep you fed until then, so don't worry about going hungry."

"What about your brother?" Right. Little Shitley. "I have a plan for keeping him out of your hair. Just do whatever Klein tells you to do, no matter what. Do you think you can handle that?" He let out a little whine, like a dog being scolded for eating out of the trash. He shifted so his head was nestled in the crook between her neck and shoulder. "Sun. Can you handle that?"

"Of course I can handle it. I just....I don't want you to leave. You're the only person I've spoke to for months. I'm pretty sure if I have to see anyone else I'll die from shock immediately." Weiss failed to contain a snort of laughter. "I'm sorry, that's not funny. I understand what you mean. But if you're lucky you won't have to encounter anyone new. You know Klein, and I trust him to keep you safe no matter what."

A slight rap at the door causes the two of them to flinch. Sun tumbled off the bed and slunk back towards the closet, shooting one last look at Weiss before scooching into the darkness. "Weiss, it's me. Get ready, I will have the guards escort you out in precisely ten minutes." A gruff voice called from the other side of the door. She let out a sigh and climbed out of bed. "Yes, Father."

"You will find your uniform laid out on your writing desk. Do not waste any time." She rolled her eyes, using her hand as a puppet to mock him. This was all his fault. Well, it was partially his fault. It was his idea to send her away, which made Sun's anxiety completely his fault. Her extended absence was all his fault. And, even though he had no hand in its design whatsoever, this god awfully ugly uniform was his fault too. The drab grey vest and skirt cinched with a drab white belt over an even more drab white collared shirt with a tie. She had no clue how this could be considered practical, but she supposed it didn't matter. She wasn't going to wear it for very long. 

As stated, guards arrived to escort her out of the manor and down the winding road to Atlas Harvest Camps front door. To her surprise, the General himself was stationed before the gate, stiff and stoic as ever. To his right stood her sister, matching his expression to a T. "Miss Schnee. Good to see you this morning. Are you ready to begin your training?"

Weiss found herself hesitating. In truth, she had no choice. It was either this or face losing her inheritance and her family. And although the latter wasn't something she held too dearly these days, she would rather have a nice comfy place to live for at least a few more years. "Yes. I'm ready." The General gave a curt nod and pushed the gate open. The loud creak caught the attention of several unwindees, sullen faces peering curiously through high chainlink fences at the new arrival. She clearly wasn't one of them, that much was clear. Everything from the way she was dressed to the way she carried herself, with an air of confidence and self importance, made that perfectly clear. 

It was strange. After nearly two months with Sun under her care, she began to believe she had had a change of heart. But as she looked at these children, she felt disgust bubbling inside her. She was thankful the guards had continued to accompany her. Who knows what those mongrels might try. After all, if clappers could get a hold of the chemicals needed to lace their bodies with explosives while under the tight security of the camp, then they could easily blend in with the crowd. These kids must have done all sorts of horrible awful things to end up at Atlas of all places. They deserved every bit of sorrow and suffering-

"You look tense, Weiss." Her sister's voice derailed her train of thought. "Don't be nervous. You have to remember, I trained through the same program. And in a few years, Whitley might do the same. Although, I have a feeling he might be the only one of us to utilize his training." Weiss truly loved her sister's subtle snark. It was what had bonded them as children. "I assure you. Everyone here has been training under the General himself. They are all strict, militant fighters, trained to work with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategy." 

The door to the training pavilion slid open. General Ironwood barely flinched as a tranq dart whizzed past his head and lodged itself into the wall behind him. All of the chaotic clamor seemed to curl up and die upon his arrival. "Neon. What have a told you about handling loaded guns?" A redheaded girl sporting rainbow colored tights instead of the normal grey let out a nervous chuckle.

"Uh, not to?" She flashed a peace sign, multicolored bracelets on her wrist jangling with each movement. Beside her a young man wearing a fedora and sunglasses despite the fact that they were inside flashed a smug smile at Weiss. 

"A Schnee, huh? Bet you're pretty good with tranqs, right?"

"Actually I've never really used one-" 

"I'm sure we will have time to acquaint ourselves with our new classmate after morning lessons. Which are precisely five minutes late." The only student actually in her seat interjected. Her crisp haircut and blue beret framed a golden sun shaped marking on her forehead. On her wrist sat an ornately decorated watch which she made a show of tapping with one well manicured finger. "Lighten up a little, Ciel. We literally have all day to do boring old book lessons. We don't even get to do any of the field tests until Thursday!" Another student cried. Their curly firetruck red hair was pulled into a high ponytail, shaved on one side in a traditionally punk style. Their face was covered with bandages of varying sizes, indicating that perhaps they had been a bit too enthusiastic about past field tests. 

General Ironwood cleared his throat. That action alone seem to give off an indisputable air of authority. He marched to the front of the classroom wordlessly, turning sharply on his heel to face the students. "Milito, Neon. Off the desks and into your seats. Huong, Natsuki, Flynt. Plans for your band will have to wait until after class. Same with the upkeep of your knife collection, Heroitza. And Ciel." The beret wearing girl perked up. "Thank you once more for your punctuality. Know if you are all settled and in your seats, I would like to introduce you all to our newest trainee." He turned to the Schnee sisters with a considerably softer look. That was her cue.

Winter's hand brushed across her back encouragingly as she followed Ironwood's footsteps and joined him at the front. "Please welcome Weiss Schnee." She gave a little curtsey, awkwardly soaking in her classmate's silence. "She will be studying with us for a few weeks to see if the Juvey Police lifestyle suits her." He motioned for her to take her seat. Across the room, Winter beamed. She couldn't remember the last time she had seen her that happy. 

Weiss had never felt worse.

* * *

_Dear Mother,_

_I apologize for never writing anymore. My work under the General has taken a majority of my time. I'm sure you are still reeling from what happened with Weiss the other day. Not to worry, now that is also training in Atlas, we will all do our part in keeping an eye on her. When she returns home she will be one of our top officers. This I can guarantee. Give Whitley and Father my regards. Write soon._

_Winter._

* * *

 

 The decision had taken a long time to come to, but she was certain that it was the right one. Tiny hands rapped against the heavy office door. "Come on in." Mr. Lazer's voice is ragged, and as she pushed the door open she saw how much stress the man was truly under. The bags under his eyes were more prominent than ever, hair and clothes unkempt. He looked like he could use a stiff drink, but she knew full well that he had given up drinking long ago. 

"Ruby. What's up?" 

"Uh, I uh...I need to talk to you about something."

"Obviously. Doubt you would have come in if you didn't." Her nerves flared up as she slid into the worn chair. She was making the right choice, she was. Then why did it feel so hard to make? 

"So, uh, now that Pyrrha and Freesia are here plans have kind of changed, right?" Mr. Lazer nodded. "Drastically. M'actually not sure what to do." 

"Well that's what I wanted to talk about. I....I have a confession to make. I'm...I'm not a candidate for unwinding." She braced herself, for what she wasn't sure. What normally happened to kids who entered the AWOL safehouse system under false pretenses? Would they even know what to do, had this even ever happened before? "Okay, go on?"

"Oh, uh....okay. I was looking for my sister, Yang. She's the, uh, Austin AWOL. I know that she doesn't deserve to be unwound, and I was hoping if I found her I could maybe help her! I don't know how, but it was just a thought. Anyways, someone mistook me for an unwind and...? I'm actually not sure what happened next. I woke up in a basement with the others and then a week or so later they took us here. I haven't really had the chance to talk to anyone about my situation, and now that the others are here I think it's best if I just-"

She was rambling. Mr. Lazer held up a hand to stop her. "Sorry."

"It's fine. But we need to back pedal here. Your sister is the Austin AWOL? And you decided to hunt her down? As a rebel, I'm impressed. As a father I need to let you know how incredibly stupid that idea was. Now, what does this have to do with Pyrrha and Freesia." Here comes the hardest part. The pitch.

"I think I should go. Instead of me and Ren, you can keep Nora here. Then you can send the other three to the next house. I know that Nora doesn't have the same cover, but she and Ren are already dating so-" She snapped her mouth shut. She hadn't meant to drop that secret. "Huh. Wish they had told me that earlier." His fingers tapped in thought. "If I let you leave, where would you go?"

In all honesty, she hadn't thought that far ahead. Surely she would keep searching for Yang? But if she had been caught so quickly before, what would stop that from happening again? Or what if this time she didn't get so lucky and she was picked up by parts pirates? Or worse, Juvey Cops. "I would go home, I guess?" Although in retrospect that sounded like the worst idea of all. At home she would have to face her father and her uncle. At home she would never see her sister again, making this all for naught. 

"Are you sure that's what you want to do then?" 

"Absolutely. I shouldn't be taking up space or resources for real AWOLS, it's not right." Geoff gave a curt nod. "I can't argue with that. As long as you're sure, I suppose there's nothing I can do to keep you here. But there is one more thing I want you to do for me." Ruby cocked her head. "Okay, what is it?"

He pulled a pad of paper and pen from a drawer in his desk and slid them towards her. "I haven't done this in ages. Usually I did it for much older kids, but you seem like you need it. Write a letter to your sister. Usually I would wait until they turned 18 to ship these out, but since she's probably in the system I could just send it out with the next shipment." 

Ruby picked up the pen, twirling it in her hand idly. "Just so we're clear, Nora and Ren stay together, Jaune and the new girls go to the next stop."

"And you go home to your family. Sound like a deal?" She thought long and hard. She had convinced him so easily, she was sure there had to be a catch. One final loop to throw her off her game and into the fire. "And all I have to do is write this letter?" 

"That's all you have to do." 

Without another moment of hesitation, pen hit paper and she let her thoughts flow.

* * *

_Dear Yang,  
 ~~I hope this letter finds you in good health~~_

_I hope this letter finds you. It's been so long since I saw you, and I miss you more than I thought I ever could. When I found out you were supposed to be unwound, I didn't know what to do. I was so scared and all I wanted was my big sister by my side to make it all better. But you weren't there. Dad said you pulled Uncle Qrow's gun on him and crashed the car and he hadn't seen you since, so I don't even know if you survived the aftermath, or even avoided getting caught. But if you did and your reading this then theres something I need to tell you._

_I'm coming for you. When I find you we are going to have a long LONG talk about EVERYTHING. I hope you won't be mad that I ran away, but I didn't have any other choice. I just can't go the rest of my life without you. I know that Dad will be really upset when he recovers. Maybe after I find you we can both go home together. We can keep you a secret or dye your hair and call you my Auntie. I would honestly do whatever it takes to have you back._

_I love you, sis.  
Ruby._

* * *

Soft jazz music filled the air, thrumming through his aching head. His nose was broken, he could feel spurts of warm blood dribbling down his chin and splashing against the counter. Where had the others gone? Were they okay? Were they even alive? He couldn't hear anything besides the fucking jazz music Velvet insisted on playing until they finished after hours clean up. 

"Coco? Yatsuhashi?" The sound of shattering glass punctured the air directly behind him. His entire body tensed. Was that the attacker? Lithe fingers curled around his forearm. "Velvet?"

"Guess again, foxy." The voice is smooth and melodic, yet taunting and cruel at the same time. "Why are you doing this? Where are my friends?" The grip on his arm tightened and threw him to the ground, a shocked gasp punching its way out of his lungs on impact. Another joined it when a sharp heel dug into his chest, applying pressure to one of the larger bruises her brutish partner had delivered. "Don't play dumb. You know what we're here for." 

"We don't have any here." And if they did, there was no way in Hell they would give them up. Not after Signal. Not after Tukson. "Then maybe you could give up directions to Haven?" He wouldn't even dignify that query with a response. 

"You're of no use to us." He could hear fabric rustling. The sense of dread in the pit of his stomach grew and grew. This was it, wasn't it? After 23 long years on this bitch of a planet, he was finally done for. 

At least he would be. With a animalistic shriek and the sound of metal snapping over skin, the weight on his chest disappeared. "Fox! Fox, are you alright?" Velvet's unmistakable accent was like music to his ears. She pulled him to his feet, hands brushing over his face and torso to search for any unrepairable damage done to him. "I'm fine, I promise. You?" 

"Yes yes. I'm shocked, but I'm okay. The three of them came out of no where, Coco and Yatsu-" She's cut off mid sentence by a shout followed by the telltale sound of a gun popping. Her hands release him and he finds his balance failing. "Vel?! Velvet, what's happening?!" 

"A foreigner with the resolve of a glass cannon and a blind man. God, they always give me the easy targets." He feels cold metal press against his temple. "Tell me where Haven is located, or you'll have to add pureed brains to the menu."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos and comments are always appreciated! please ask about my ocs i love to talk about them


	15. Make it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Neptune makes it to Haven  
> Whitley makes a discovery  
> Blake makes a choice  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey by the way this fic is going to be a year old on February 18th!!! ive managed to bullshit my way through an entire year!!!! what the fuck!!!! this is my most popular piece of work ever, and it continues to get more and more popular every time i update. I dont even know how to express how grateful I am.
> 
> That being said, I'm thinking about doing a trivia contest for this fic. Winner would receive either a one shot of whatever pairing they like OR a doodle of any character/pairing. The only things I won't write/draw is smut. Let me know if you lovely readers would be interested in something like that?

The first few days without Sage were hard. It had been the same when Sun had left with Blake for their recon mission, but somehow much different. Where Sun had been a light in their normally bleak lives, Sage was more of an emotional rock. When things got too rough they always had him to comfort them. He was the perfect listener, pillow, reading partner. Scarlet had taken his absence the hardest, often snapping at other AWOLS and rebel workers over the simplest things. It took all of his power to keep the fiery red head from getting them kicked out of the system before they reached their goal. 

But lo and behold, they had made it. Nearly three weeks after Sage left, four houses where they had to fight tooth and nail to stay together, they made it. The name Haven seemed to fit perfectly. The location itself was the shell of an abandoned botanical garden, with acres upon acres of open space. The main building was where the rebels had set up their headquarters, bunks, and cafeteria. A man with a fuzzy grey beard, almost like a lion's mane, sat on the other side of a large oak desk. Behind him was a large bay window that gave Neptune a perfect view of the gardens and the other AWOLS working to maintain its beauty. 

"I would like to start off by welcoming you two to Haven. My name is Leonardo Lionheart. It's always good to have newcomers. Now tell me, is this the first major house you two have been to?"

"Yessir. We were previously at Signal, but that was no where as huge as this place. It's actually really sort of awesome." Mr. Lionheart chuckled heartily. "Why thank you. The other volunteers and I have done some very hard work making sure Haven lives up to its name. Of course, this wouldn't be possible without AWOLs like you. You see, like most of the larger houses, Haven relies on help from not only volunteers, but those residing here as well. That's what we are here to determine today." He shuffled through the mess of papers strewn across his desk before settling on two manilla folders. Their names are scrawled across the top in neat script. 

"Neptune Vasilias. 16 years old, AWOL for two... Scarlet David, 16, AWOL for four. You two have a very interesting track record. Especially you, Scarlet." The redhead tensed in their seat. "Though, at Haven we like to believe that the actions of the past does not make the man. What you do in the present does. Which brings me to my next point: What are your skills? Anything that makes you special?"

"You mean besides my dashing good looks?" Lionheart let out another loud chuckle. Neptune could see Scarlet relax slightly. The old man's good nature gave a soothing aura, but he offered his hand to hold just in case. They gave it a tight squeeze. "I suppose I'm pretty good with my hands. I don't mind getting dirty. I just can't do anything involving large bodies of water. I'm kind of uh.....well I'm kind of afraid of it."

Lionheart nodded, scribbled down something in his file before flipping back to Scarlet's. He waved his hand at the smaller teen, motioning for them to continue the conversation. "I"m not really good at much, honestly. All I do is read or play with the gaming systems they had at other safehouses. I guess I'm not really good for anything except taking up space." 

"That's not true at all, Scar. They wouldn't just play with the games, they'd make 'em so much better! Same with old phones or really any bits of tech! They're super clever, I'm sure that they could do anything they put their mind to if you gave them the chance!"

"Neptune-"

"Besides, I'm sure you need people to run maintenance here in the main building or-"

"Neptune." Lionheart placed a hand on his shoulder and ceased his chatter. "I see you care a great deal for your friend. But you don't need to worry, son. Even if we couldn't find a special skill, Scarlet would still be assigned something. I don't know how past houses you've visited were run, but we don't buy into the idea that any child is worthless. That's why we do this, after all. Everyone who walks through the gates becomes a part of our family. We do everything in our power to make you feel like you belong here." 

Out of the corner of his eye he sees Scarlet reach up and swipe away budding tears. They had spent years teaching themself to hold in emotions and put forth a tough facade. Neptune had done the same with the too-cool-for-you act. They had both created these walls because it was easier to take than rejection. The words from this kind hearted old man seemed to tear down these facades in a matter of minutes, and with more tact than any other had ever offered. "I think I've heard enough. I'll have you two in your assignments by tomorrow morning." 

Scarlet waited until they had left the office to throw their spindly arms around Neptune and squeeze him with all of their might. "Did you really mean what you said about me?"

"Of course I did. Why would I lie about how awesome I think you are?" He ran his hand up their back and buried it in their messy hair, gently massaging the scalp in what he hoped was a soothing manner.It had taken him a long time to even get Scarlet to hold his hand, let alone get this close. While things had been hard on him, Scarlet had all but crumbled without his partner in crime. "No matter what happens, we're in this together. And when Sage and Sun get back, we can kick their asses as a team. Does that sound okay?" They nodded against his chest. He could feel tears soaking through the material. 

They were going to be okay. After all, they had made it to Haven.

* * *

The manor had never been this quiet. When Winter had joined the Juvey Cadets, he had taken up many of the same activities Weiss participated in just to have someone, anyone, to talk to. Now that she had taken the same path as their eldest sister (albeit against her will) he had nothing. No one to talk to besides the help, and he never clicked with them like his sister had. There was just nothing to do anymore. Nothing except this.

Years of living in the Schnee manor had taught him the art of stealth. The portly butler had no idea of his presence, nor that he had been watching his every move for hours. He had already learned the code to his father's office safe, where the chef stored all of the good baking supplies. Where they put the master key after they had finished cleaning the many many manor rooms. How they left they key completely unguarded almost 24/7. 

The hardest part of it all was hiding his pride. He picked at his dinner, occasionally glancing up at his father. Jaques took a long sip of his wine. Red droplets clung to his snowy mustache. In this lighting, it looked eerily similar to blood. "Whitley." He jolted into an upright position. "Y-Yes, Father?"

"As you know, should your sister fail to complete her training the role of heir would be passed on to the next eligible contender. That, in this case, would be you. I would like to be sure that you are prepared for the burden. Most importantly, do you think that you're ready for this role?" 

"I....yes. I do believe I'm ready. Sh-should that time come. I, however, have faith in Weiss. After all, she's never let you down before, has she?" It was nearly impossible to hide the smirk that crawled on his face as he let his words sink into his father's mind. As it stood, he was currently the only child to leave the Schnee name untouched. And if he could prove what he had been trying to prove for nearly two months, it would certainly stay that way. He felt the master key shifting in his pocket. Everything was going according to plan. All he had to do was bide his time until the perfect moment arose. 

It took much longer than he thought for that moment. Weiss had been away at training for a few days now, with no signs of returning soon. The General had asked Jaques to accompany him on their next training outing so he could make note of her progress, and he had just finished packing his belongings into the General's truck. "I'll return around Sunday afternoon. I trust you'll be on your best behavior?"

"Yes Father. As is appropriate for the future heir." Jaques blew a soft sigh from his nostrils. "Right. Like I said, behave. Winter is in charge of Atlas in the General's absence and she has promised that she will also be keeping a close eye on the manor. Can't have another incident like last time." Without another word, he stepped into the truck and let the slam of the door serve as his farewell. That smug grin finally broke free as they sped down the extravagant driveway and took a sharp right turn onto a dirt road. Whitley barely waited for the dust clouds to clear before disappearing back into the house.

"Oh, Klein!" The butler took a matter of seconds to arrive. "Yes, Master Whitley? How may I assist you?" 

"I seem to have misplaced my, uh, my rapier. I need to sharpen it before I can sharpen my skills. Do you think you could find it for me?"

"Yes, Master Whitley. Right awa-"

"Good. And when you find it bring it up to the tea room. Along with some tea. Black, my favorite." Klein made an effort to confirm the order only to be ignored. Whitley turned sharply on his toes, shoes squeaking against the polished linoleum and thudding with purpose as he made his way up the stairs. A quick glance over his shoulder confirmed that he was no longer being watched. Perfect. Instead of the tea room he made a quick left, fishing the master key from one pocket and his phone from the other. If he wanted anyone to believe him, he would need hard undeniable proof. No more beating around the bush. It was now or never. 

Then why was he hesitating, hand hovering just over the door knob. He was about to prove to himself and everyone else that he was  _right._ He loved being right. Was it possible he loved his sister even more than that? He mulled the thought over, ultimately deciding that no, that wasn't the case. He was just nervous because.....well why wouldn't he be? There was most likely a dangerous AWOL in there, one who had managed to scare that block of ice he called a sister bad enough that she let him hide in her room instead of turning him over to the authorities. Scary enough that she jeopardized her inheritance. Though, perhaps he should thank the AWOL for that one. 

The door creaked open slowly. One foot in front of the other he entered the room at a snail's pace. His heart hammered against his chest loud enough that the AWOL surely heard it as well. He had made it nearly five feet into the room when he saw it out of the corner of his eye and his heart began to beat even harder. The closest door pushed outwards, opening just as slowly as he had entered. 

"I'd recognize that white mess anywhere. Back so soon, Weiss?" The AWOL flinched at the brightness of the first cellphone flash. As it blinked away the shock a whole new wave of it flashed over its face. "You're not Weiss." 

"And you are busted! I knew there was someone in here! I knew it I knew it I knew it!!" He snapped another picture and then another. "You are so dead! No no no, even better! You're so unwound, AWOL! Wait until my sister sees this!" It rocketed to its feet and lunged at him. Luckily years of figure skating and dance had made him nimble and allowed him to avoid harm. "Just give me the phone and I'll let you walk out of here with most of your teeth!"

The AWOL's elbow swooped dangerously close to his face. He grabbed its arm and twisted as hard as he could, putting all of his weight into the motion. It cried out, knees buckling. With a swift flick of one long leg he knocked the AWOL to the ground and pivoted harshly on the other. Those blessed legs carried him down the stairs two steps at a time, much faster than the AWOL could ever hope. 

"Master Whitley! I located your rapier, it was in your father's stu-" He shoulder checked Klein as he passed, barely taking the time to right himself before taking off once again. Once he reached the foyer he paused once more. He had two choices here; out the front door and taking the long way or jumping the gate and cutting through the AWOL rec area. He had just fought off one AWOL, and the others wouldn't have motive to attack him. Aside from being a Schnee. But the guards and his sister would assist him before anything happened. But then again, when was the last time he was able to jump that fence? Long way around it was. 

Breath came out in ragged pants and muscles ached from running as fast as he could down the long road, but he knew in the end this would all be worth it. He ducked past the opening gates, down the narrow path into the main building. "Winter! Winter, I have something to show you!" 

"Hey, kid! You can't be in here!" One of the nurses hollered after him. He ignored her and kept his pace. The hallways began to clog with more nurses and doctors, determined to keep him from his goal. Didn't they know who he was? Didn't they know what he was here for? "I have to show my sister something! She's in her office right?" 

"Young man, Miss Schnee is NOT accepting visits right now! Get back here!" The largest of the doctors, still covered in fluids and gore from his latest operation, grabbed his shoulder and left a large gory print on his pristine baby blue vest. It didn't take much wriggling to get free from him grip. Before he knew it he was mere feet from his sister's office. One hand on the door knob, the other grasping his phone like a life line. He flung the door open with all his might. "Winter! I have something I think you'd like to see! Weiss has been hiding an AWOL unwind and I-" The words died in his throat at the sight before him. His phone dropped from his hand, purpose for coming here completely forgotten. 

Winter started at him wide eyed, large flashcards slipping from her hands and fluttering to the floor in a heap. Across from her sits a young girl, maybe Weiss' age. At least the parts that she was made up of were Weiss' age. Her skin was crisscrossed with scars that looked as if they were once sutures that held her together. Multicolored eyes mimicked his sister's fearful expression. Winter's chair tipped over from the force of her suddenly springing to her feet and moving towards him, attempting to use her body to hide the monstrosity. "Whitley! What are you doing here?! How did you get in?!" She took one step then another until she was backing him out of the room entirely. "I-I...I, uh....What was that? Is that a person?" 

"You can't be here. You shouldn't have come down here, you should have just stayed home." He backed into a wall of meat created by the doctors who had chased him down here. Beefy hands wrapped around his arms and held him in place. "We'll have to hold him here until the General gets back. Then he can decide what to do with him." 

"Doctor Jones, please. Can't we just let him go? He's just a kid."

"I'm sorry, Miss Schnee. You know the rules just as well as anyone why we can't do that." Whitley had never seen his sister look so solemn. He knew that nothing good was waiting for him when the General returned.

* * *

They had stayed in the house for far too long. Long enough that the thrill of having the Austin AWOL in their midst had finally worn off and Yang had gone back to being just another face in the crowd. Long enough that Blake's anxieties had managed to claw themselves back up from the back of her mind and tried to tear her apart from the inside out. The longer she stayed the stronger they grew. She had to get to Haven as soon as possible. There was just one little thing holding her back.

Yang. 

She had planned on leaving once the blonde had shipped out. That way she could leave without making too much of a fuss and knowing that she was safely on her way to Beacon. There was even the slim chance of meeting her once again in a house far away from here with Sun in tow. But when the first rotation rolled around, she was left behind. No big deal, sometimes this was how things went. But then it was the same story with the next rotation. And the one after that. And the next as well. Shipments became smaller and smaller, both incoming and outgoing. Soon it was almost as if they had stopped entirely. 

"What's going on with that?" She had asked the house runner. The elderly rebel sighed. "Things have gotten too risky. More than usual. With the attacks on houses like Signal, and Arryn's shipment getting stolen right from under her. Not to mention the Chelsea Manford incident. Several houses have already shut down. Not to mention what happened at CFVY House." 

"CFVY House? What happened, are they okay?"

"Don't worry, my dear. All of them were left alive, and they haven't had anyone in for a long time. Whoever did this either got soft or got caught. Judging by location and the extent to which Mr. Alistair and Miss Scarletina were injured, I'd have to say it was the same group that hit Tukson's store." Blake felt herself physically flinch at the mention of her late uncle. "I"m sorry for your loss, by the way, I know you two were close."

"It's....it's gonna be fine. I'm gonna track down whoever did this and make them regret being born." The old man let out a soft laugh at the casual tone in her voice, as if she made threats on people's lives on a regular basis. "I have no doubt that you would. Hopefully you do it sooner than later. I'm not sure we'll be able to get anyone in our out safely unless they're taken care of." 

It seemed as if Blake was stuck in place indefinitely. As much as she wanted to leave, she wanted to ensure the safety of not only Yang, but all the AWOLs. With those maniacs running around, safety was even harder to come by than before. She couldn't just thrust these defenseless kids into the world and pray that nothing would happen to them, or if some did happen that they would know how to handle it. But if she left now, there was nothing stopping Yang from tagging along. She was truly stuck between a rock and a hard place with no way out. 

It took a few days, but salvation finally came. The shipment was small, only three teens to replace the six that had left nearly a week prior. There was nothing too remarkable about them. A lanky blond boy who looked as if someone had tried to build him entirely out of overcooked pasta, two girls who could probably bench press him effortlessly. What made them stand out was what they asked. 

"We're looking for the Austin AWOL. She wouldn't happen to be staying here, would she?" Luck was on her side for once. Yang was out of earshot, giving her the perfect chance to intercept them. "You're looking for the Austin AWOL, huh? Why? Big fans or something?" She could deal with fans. She had done so for nearly three weeks when they had first arrived. "What are you, the bouncer? We just came from a house where someone important to her was looking for her." That raised some alarms. It was dangerous for people like them to have someone important even within the system, they of all people should know that. Maybe she was just a bit skeptical due to recent events, but she didn't feel as if she should trust these new housemates.

"You're gonna have to be more specific." Noodle boy sighed heavily before reaching into his hoodie pocket and fishing out a crinkled envelope with Yang's name scribbled across in a messy scrawl. It looked as if a child had done it. Still, she was wary. "Look, all we know is that it's for the Austin AWOL from her sister. She's been looking for her for almost two months now." Two months....the math checked out, if she was remembering their fateful meeting correctly. And Yang had mentioned a little sister from time to time, but the two of them often avoided bringing family into their conversations. "So is she here or not?"

"Uh....yeah. She's here...you're looking at her. I'm the Austin AWOL." She reached for the letter but before she could the stocky blonde girl lunged forward and snatched it out of reach. "You must think we're pretty stupid, huh? We saw he on the TV, and you're not her. You don't even look anything like Ruby, either." Blake forced a smile. "That was a test. You got me, I'm not her. But I am her friend, and I can get this to her as soon as possible. Trust me, I'm one of Yang's closest friends. Besides, if you hand it over you can rest. I'm sure you're all super tired from your trip." White lies. Forced smiles. It was all a facade and if she was lucky they would fall for it. Both blondes glared holes into her. It was failing, her plan was failing. 

Suddenly the tall red haired girl stepped between the three of them and offered Blake a soft smile. She was far taller than she was. Usually this would be off putting and terrifying, but despite the height difference she gave off a soothing aura. "We should give her the letter."

"But Pyrrha-"

"Why would she lie to us? She clearly just wants to keep her friend safe from harm. You don't know who to trust, especially if what Mr. Lazer told us is true. I think we should give her the letter. It would be easier on all of us to just let her pass it on. We could really use the time for rest, after all." There was a long silence while they mulled it over. Finally the blonde girl reluctantly passed the envelope over to Pyrrha, who passed it to Blake with that sweet smile still in place. "Thank you. I'll get this to her as soon as I can. In the mean time, the sleeping quarters are the second door on the right. The house runner will come get you for supper." 

She waited until the three of them were out of sight before carefully tearing into the envelope. A part of her felt terrible for invading her friend's privacy, but there was a funny little phrase about curiosity killing the cat. The envelope's contents were scribbled in the same messy handwriting as before, detailing the girl's plan to hunt down her older sister, no matter what the cost. It was honestly quite endearing. At least, it would be if it wasn't one of the most dangerous plans she had heard in a long time. Yang wasn't going to like this one bit. If she found out about it there was no telling how she would react, but no matter what she did it would put her life in grave danger. 

"I think I'm going to head out soon." The house runner perked up, only slightly turning away from the meal he was preparing. "Alright, my dear. Is there anything you need from me before you go? Fake ID? A map?"

"Actually, I do have a favor to ask of you. The girl I brought with me, Yang Xiao Long?"

"Yes, what about her?"

"I need you to get her to Beacon as soon as possible. If you could manage a direct route from here to there, or even if she has to make a few stops. Just please, get her to Beacon." The man paused. She was asking a lot of him and she knew that. "You promise me that you'll take out whatever sicko has been hitting houses and taking kids?" His tone is hushed but firm. She can see tears budding in the corner of his eyes and his wrinkles creasing as he tries to contain himself. "Y-yes. I promise." 

"Then I'll see what I can do. But, Blake?" 

"Yes?"

"Stay for dinner, tonight. I'm making chili, your favorite." She couldn't stop a small smile from creeping onto her lips. She supposed she could put off her mission for just one more night. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i appreciate kudos and comments, and I love to talk! Thank you for reading!  
> Let me know what you think about the contest! If enough of you are interested I'll post the questions in the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> I've never been to Texas but guess where this mostly takes place bitch


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